


This is the Hunt

by Dreamshaper



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Magic, Shadowhunter!Helena, Some fighting, Vampires, Warlock!Dinah, and I think Helena would look good with the runes, shadowhunters au, some questionable ideas by family members, this is what happens when my better half and I binge that show together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:22:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 42,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26792827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: In a world with vampires, werewolves and warlocks, Shadowhunters are tasked with protecting regular humans and stopping those who go rogue. Helena Bertinelli, born to a long line of Shadowhunters, is tasked with finding and stopping a rogue vampire, but her life might be turned quite upside down when she meets warlock Dinah Lance in the process.
Relationships: Helena Bertinelli/Dinah Lance
Comments: 151
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My better half and I watched Shadowhunters together and of course my brain turned it into this. Blame the mental image of Helena with those runes which would not leave me alone. XD

The day has started quietly at Gotham City Police Department, a rarity, Renee Montoya knows, and so, she has commented on this to her partner, even though she’s not very fond of the man; and now, she wonders if she has jinxed it, as she stands in the badly lit side alley, it’s dark here even though it’s afternoon, but despite the dim lighting, she can see the mess all too clearly.

“Shit”, she says, a good assessment of the situation, while her partner is walking around the corpse, eying it; unlike him, she already knows what - or better said who - has killed the man, but she knows better than to say it out loud.

“What a mess”, her partner comments, raising his brows as he bends over for a closer look, “look at this. It looks like whoever did this bit him open.”

“It does”, Renee has to agree, the following lie coming easy to her, “probably someone hyped up on drugs, went a little crazy. Move aside so the forensic guy can take pictures, Jerry.”

Jerry does, even though he’s still staring at the mess which is left of the victim’s neck; and if he notices there’s far more less blood than there should be, he doesn’t say anything, Renee doubting though that he is aware of this, he’s not as bad as some others on the force, but also not nearly as smart as he should be for someone who’s made detective.

Movement above her catches her attention, along with a waft of a familiar, but not welcome scent; she glances up quickly, just for a second so nobody else will notice, then nods towards the other end of the alley, pretending to get a phone call as she slowly walks to there, relieved when nobody of the forensics or her partner pay attention to what she is doing.

There’s a rush of air, and the one who has been watching from the roof lands in front of her, doing so with ease despite the impressive height she just has jumped from; straightening up, the woman easily towers over her, but Renee is not impressed, not even when she has to look up at her to meet her eyes.

“Should have known you guys would make an appearance”, she comments, earning a shrug, “just you though? Usually, it’s two or three of you.”

“No need for more than one”, the woman replies, peering past Renee and at the people still working around the corpse, “you guys beat us to the punch anyway.”

“That we did, for once”, Renee agrees, “but I’ll make sure to keep you guys updated, this is more your area of expertise than ours. Helena, right?”

“Right”, Helena confirms, it’s not the first time she runs into Renee, but they haven’t actually spoken much so far, usually, her brother or someone else is with her and she lets them do the talking, “you got a good look then? You know for sure?”

“I do”, Renee confirms, glancing over her shoulder and at the people still standing around the corpse, making a face, but keeping her voice low so nobody but Helena will hear her, she knows the others at the scene would think she’s insane if they heard.

“Seems like we got a rogue vampire”, she says, and Helena’s gaze darkens as she nods, keeping her gaze focused on the corpse, fairly certain that this is just the beginning of their troubles.

* * *

Thanks to the people already at the crime scene, Helena has no chance to get a closer look at the body, but Renee promises her to contact her as soon as she can, and since it isn’t the first time that the woman works with them, Helena heads back to the Institute; she nods a greeting to her brother as she walks past him to her father’s office, the elderly man looking up from his screen when she enters, raising an eyebrow as he glances at the time.

“You’re back faster than I thought you would be”, he tells her, nodding at the chair in front of his massive desk, Helena sitting down in response, “did you find out anything?”

“Vampire”, Helena replies, and he frowns, “couldn’t get too close, GCPD was already there. But Montoya was among them, she’ll get us all the information as soon as she can.”

“Hm”, her father lets out, frown still in place, “we should not depend too much on the help of this… woman. Even if she means well.”

“They were at the scene faster this time”, Helena points out, and her father sighs, the sort of sigh he always lets out when he feels vexed by his children, “right now, she’s the only way we can get information on this.”

“That might be so”, her father replies, “but we still should not depend too much on the likes of her. You’re not getting friendly with her, are you.”

“No”, Helena curtly replies, fighting the urge to roll her eyes; thankfully, her father accepts this, at least for now, and gives a brief nod, then focuses on his screen again, a clear dismissal, Helena coming to her feet in response.

“Your brother is training”, her father still comments as she makes her way to the door, prompting her to pause and to look back at him, “I suggest you join him. If there’s a rogue vampire out there, we’ll need to be in perfect shape.”

Helena knows she’s exactly that, one look at her is enough to confirm this, but she still nods; her father nods at her, and she leaves his office, holding back a sigh once she’s out in the hallway, she’s twenty-four and has been going on missions for years now, but her father still manages to make her feel like an inexperienced child each time they talk.

Sparring always makes her feel better though, no matter if it’s with her brother or with the weapons master of the Institute, she knows she’s one of the best fighters of the group and proving it again and again helps take away the insecurity her father always makes her feel; and so, Helena goes to find her brother, as her father has suggested, for the moment not thinking anymore about the rogue vampire and the danger this might bring to the future of the Institute and those they work with.


	2. Chapter 2

Helena has been fairly certain that Renee will contact them with an update somewhat quickly, and so she’s a bit annoyed when it gets dark outside and nothing has come in from the cop; this only will harden her father’s opinion that Renee and those like her can’t be trusted, and it will make her look like a fool for being willing to work with her, something she doesn’t appreciate much.

So, right after dinner, she retreats to her room, not wanting to end up questioned by her father on why Renee hasn’t contacted them yet - as if she’d have an answer to that question - figuring she might as well distract herself with some work until it’s time to go to bed; she’s barely been there for ten minutes though when there’s a knock on the door, one of the younger Institute members stepping into her room when she calls out to them to come in.

“There’s a… guest… at the door for you”, the woman says, the way she pauses before the word  _ guest _ telling Helena at once that it’s the sort of person no one here wants to actually have at the door, and she wonders if it’s Renee, “she’s asked for you specifically.”

“Okay”, Helena lets out, not sure why Renee can’t give the information to anyone else, then shrugging it off as she comes to her feet; the woman gives her a brief smile, then goes back to her post while Helena makes her way to the front door, glad that Renee has come through after all.

Her gladness vanishes abruptly when she gets a look at the visitor and it’s not Renee, it’s a young woman instead with the telltale pale skin of a vampire, and Helena tenses at once, vampires who stick to the rules are not a problem, but there is a rogue vampire out there, and Helena figures that a vampire randomly showing up at the Institute on the same day someone has been killed by one of her kind can’t mean anything good.

“You’re Helena Bertinelli?” the woman asks as Helena steps up to her, and the once over she gives her makes Helena somewhat uncomfortable, the woman is looking at her as if she’s some sort of snack, but then, she figures, she probably is to a vampire, even to one who doesn’t actually drink from people.

“I am”, she says, hiding her discomfort well, she’s quite good at that, “and you are? And don’t say  _ a vampire _ now, I can tell that already.”

“Course you can, being a badass Shadowhunter and everything”, the woman replies breezily, “also, it’s not that hard, once you know what to look for. I’m Harley Quinn. Nice to meet you.”

She holds out her hand, and Helena glances down on it for a moment before she crosses her arms over her chest, getting annoyed again - not only has Renee let her down, but now there is a freaking  _ vampire _ on the doorstep, asking for her, and she knows her parents will be very unhappy about this. 

“Fine, be that way”, Harley says, lowering her hand again, “but I am here to help, you know. We both know Renee Montoya right? She sent me.”

“Did she now”, Helena replies, a bit sceptical, she knows about Renee and she knows that usually, Renee and her kind don’t get along very well with vampires; and apparently, Harley is aware of this too, as she smiles a toothy, but thankfully fangless smile, and nods, enthusiastically enough to make her hair bounce.

“She did”, she then says, nodding again, Helena finding herself wondering if this strange behaviour is a sort of vampire thing or if this one is just peculiar, she has spoken to vampires before, but never for long, and always just on business, “she wants me to give you this. And also, I’m here to reassure you that my clan had nothing to do with this, we will help any way we can, this guy eating random people gives us a bad name.”

She hands a thick brown envelope to Helena, who finds herself wondering why Renee has felt the need to send a vampire to give her this and why she hasn’t just dropped it off on her own; she doesn’t ask though, figuring Harley wouldn’t know, but latches onto something else the vampire has said, giving her a hard look as she speaks.

“Random people?” she repeats, tugging the envelope into the back pocket of her pants, “are you saying whoever is doing this has killed more than one person already?”

“Not yet, probably”, Harley replies with a shrug, “but if we don’t find this rogue, more people will die. They won’t stop at one, they’ll get hungry again.”

Helena makes a face, but she knows Harley is right - she doesn’t know how often vampires have to feed to avoid starvation, but she figures that it has to be more or less regularly, and while the clans which are working with the Institute have other ways to get blood, ways which don’t include killing people, a rogue vampire will have no such qualms.

“Well, thank you”, she says, making the vampire smile brightly again, “we’ll let you know in case we need any help.”

“And we’ll let you know in case we find out anything”, Harley promises her, Helena giving a brief nod; Harley gives her another toothy smile, then waves and turns, practically skipping away, Helena watching her go with a raised eyebrow, not quite sure what to think of this woman.

_ Well, she is a vampire _ , she then ponders as she walks back to her room,  _ they tend to be a little weird. Maybe she had some drug addict’s blood for dinner.  _

Not wanting to damage the envelope, Helena pulls it out before she sits down on the edge of her bed and opens it; it holds several photos of the victim, with close-ups from the torn up neck, and a copy of the report the detective has handed in, Helena quickly reading through it, but it holds nothing truly of interest, they don’t know who the victim is yet and as it is an official police report, no mention is made of vampires, Shadowhunters or anything else connected to the supernatural. 

Still Helena dutifully goes through the whole report, just to make sure she knows all the details; and once she is done, she puts it back into the envelope and goes to find her father, knowing that handing it over will show him that Renee has come through and has helped them out, even if the photos and the report don’t hold much useful information.

He’s still in the office, as Helena has known he would be, Franco Bertinelli is the biggest workaholic of them all; he looks up at her when she enters his office, raising an eyebrow questioningly, and Helena hands him the envelope in response, letting him know that it has been dropped off for her and that it’s from Renee Montoya, wisely keeping the fact that a vampire has delivered it to herself.

“Dropped off by a vampire, I’ve heard”, Franco says, and Helena holds back a groan, she should have figured he would know already, “this is getting quite a few people involved, considering it was one mundane who got killed.”

“It won’t be the last, if we don’t find this rogue quickly”, Helena points out, even though she figures her father is aware of this, “and the vampire offered her help. Can’t hurt to have them be on the lookout as well.”

“Vampires”, her father replies with a derisive snort, shaking his head, “can’t trust them, even if they stick to the rules. They are just as likely to hide the rogue than to tell us about it.”

Helena just shrugs to that, she knows her father would rather cut off his hand than accept any actual help from vampires or others who are not part of the Institute; to her relief though, he doesn’t tell her to not work with the vampire, just thanks for her showing him what Renee has had delivered to the Institute.

“Make sure to keep updated on this”, he adds as he looks through the papers, “this is your case, don’t mess it up.”

“I won’t”, Helena says, and he nods, then vaguely gestures towards the door, and Helena makes her way back to her bedroom, feeling oddly proud at him having said that this is her case.

She figures he doesn’t think the rogue vampire is much of a threat, or he would have assigned a second person to the case, to work it with her, but he never has given her one case to crack on her own before, either, always has partnered her with someone, and she figures that this is a good thing, that finally, after years of doing this work, he’s trusting her skill enough to do this on her own.

She’s determined to get this done, and to show him his trust isn’t misplaced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Harley XD


	3. Chapter 3

As it turns out, the rogue vampire doesn’t wait long to strike again, and this time, the alarm systems of the Institute catch it early enough and alert Helena to another person dead in the street, and so, she’s out and about after just a few hours of sleep, moving fast as she has to get there this time before anyone else finds the body and alerts the police.

At least, she thinks to herself as she speeds through the night on her bike, the kill hasn’t happened far from the Institute, so she’ll get there quickly; and even though she has been on her way not even five minutes after the system has alerted her, she’s not the first to arrive, dismayed when she spots Harley from afar as she parks her bike.

The vampire looks at her as she kills the engine, apprehensive at first, then smiling when Helena pulls off her helmet; she doesn’t smile back at her though, keeping her gaze on the dead body as she walks to where said body lies facedown on the ground, lowering herself into a crouch next to Harley for a closer look.

“The rogue again?” she asks, even though she already knows, they would know if one of the Gotham clans was breaking the rules like that; Harley still nods, gesturing at the torn up neck with a slight frown, for the moment not smiling anymore as she looks at Helena.

“And a messy eater, at that”, she says, Helena making a face as Harley has a point, the man’s neck looks as if he has been mauled by a very pissed off wild animal, “with a big appetite. Shouldn’t be hungry again already, after draining that other guy yesterday.”

“I’ll trust your expertise on this”, Helena says, and this does make Harley smile again, with a bit of pride, “you find anything out yet?”

“No”, Harley says, to her dismay, “but don’t you guys have a tracking sort of thingy for such things? What’s the one on the side of your neck for?”

“They’re  _ runes _ , not  _ thingies _ ”, Helena tells her, putting airquotes around the last word, to Harley’s clear amusement, “and yes, we have one for tracking. I shouldn’t do this alone though, we have rules too, and one of them is, no going after a rogue vampire alone.”

“Well, you’re not alone, I’m here”, Harley points out, grinning when Helena raises an eyebrow, “I’ll team up with ya! Vampire versus vampire, they say to fight fire with fire, no?”

“Possibly”, Helena says after a moment, “but that would be… frowned upon. By the head of the Institute.”

“No time to lose though”, Harley points out, and Helena again has to admit that she has a point, “this is relatively fresh. Come on, just imagine how impressed that head of yours would be if you find and finish the culprit tonight!”

“...fine”, Helena agrees after a moment, she knows this is reckless, and that it will probably get her yelled at if it goes wrong in any way, but if they do catch that rogue, it will be worth it; she shrugs out of her jacket, exposing the sleeveless shirt she’s wearing beneath it, and the various runes on her arms and part of her back, the black lines a stark contrast to her pale skin, even though she’s far from as pale as Harley is.

The vampire ogles her unabashedly, and even whistles, Helena giving her a look which tries to be a hard glare, but as she blushes a bit, the effect doesn’t quite work; she says nothing though, pulling a pen-like silver object from her pocket instead and bending over the dead man, Harley squealing in excitement as she gets a closer look at the pen.

“This is the first time I see a stele”, she says apologetically when Helena shoots her another look, “I haven’t hung around much with Shadowhunters so far. Can I hold it?”

“No”, Helena curtly replies, and Harley pouts; ignoring her, Helena places her free hand on the dead man’s neck, this might not work, she knows, tracking usually works best if the one doing it has an object belonging to the person tracked, but it’s worth a try, and the injuries the rogue vampire has caused might be enough to allow her to form a connection.

Quickly, she runs the stele over the rune used for tracking, activating it - and a second later, blinding pain shoots from her hand up her arm, there’s an audible  _ bang _ and she goes flying, grunting when she hits the wall behind her, her grunt mixing with the squeak Harley lets out, the vampire clapping her hands over her mouth afterwards.

“Let me guess”, she then says, as Helena comes to her feet again and rubs the back of her head, already feeling a bump form, but thankfully there’s no blood, “that’s not supposed to happen?”

“No”, Helena confirms, shaking out her hand, her fingers tingling as if she’s touched a live wire, “that’s some powerful magic, blocking us from tracking. Whoever is doing this knows what they’re doing.”

“Magic, huh”, Harley echoes, eying the torn up neck as if she might be able to actually see said magic, and perhaps, Helena realizes, she actually can do that, it’s not like she knows much about the skills and powers of vampires except for the super speed and strength she has been warned about during training, “I know just the right person then to help us out. Say, Helena, do you need permission to contact a warlock or can you just do that?”

“What?” Helena says, blinking, the Institute has worked with warlocks before, but she has no idea about the protocol for this, as these interactions are usually left to the head of the Institute; clearly, Harley isn’t bothered by her lack of actual response, grinning as she grabs her hand, Helena holding back the urge to grimace at how cold her fingers are. 

“Come on”, Harley says, tugging at her hand, Helena freeing herself again though she can pull her jacket back on, still not sure if this is a good idea - she knows she should call the Institute first, and get official permission for that, but on the other hand, the thought of a rogue vampire out there using magic so powerful is quite unsettling, and the sooner they find someone to help with this, the better.

“Come on”, Harley says again, tugging at her sleeve now, and tearing her out of her thoughts, “I’ll take responsibility for this, then your people never even need to find out. Let’s go!”

“Tell me where to go”, Helena says in response, she knows this might get her in trouble, but she doesn’t want to waste any time, either, and she knows that the Institute does work with warlocks when it can’t be avoided, no matter what they think of them, “I’m here on my bike, unless you want to ride with me, we’ll meet there.”

“I wouldn’t mind pressing up against you”, Harley says, and Helena glares at her, making her snicker, “but don’t worry, I can keep up. Vampire speed, remember?”

“Right”, Helena realizes, feeling dumb for a moment, but thankfully, Harley doesn’t comment on that, “alright, lead the way then.”

Harley nods and waits until Helena has gotten onto her bike and has started the engine; and then, she rushes off, and Helena actually has trouble keeping up, Harley weaving through the thankfully light traffic easily on her two feet while Helena has to make sure she doesn’t crash her bike or hit some unsuspecting vehicle.

To her relief, they make it to their goal in one piece, Harley stopping in front of a rather unimpressive building, Helena’s not sure what she’s expected, but she’s been fairly certain a warlock’s home would be flashier than this brick building; Harley reassures her they’re at the right place though, and leads the way up again, up to the top floor, knocking one of the doors there and calling out “it’s me!”, making it clear this is not the first time she’s visiting this certain warlock.

Then, the door opens, and Helena freezes, because in front of her is the most beautiful woman she has ever seen.

“Hi”, Harley happily says, while Helena just stands and stares, “how’re you doing? I brought a friend! Helena, this is Dinah, awesome warlock. Dinah, this is Helena, badass Shadowhunter.”

“Um”, Helena manages, and the way Dinah is looking at her isn’t helping, she’s eying her like she’s a cold glass of water on a hot day, the smaller woman smiling a bit at her reaction, and when she speaks up, the pleasant tone of her voice only affects Helena further.

“I can see she’s a Shadowhunter”, she says, stepping aside to let them both enter, “why don’t you come inside, and tell me how I can help you.”

She eyes Helena again as she talks, and as the taller woman steps into the apartment, she’s not so sure anymore that this has been a very good idea after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Helena...


	4. Chapter 4

Dinah offers them a seat, and they both sit down on the comfortable looking couch she points out to them; and even though it is as comfortable as it looks, Helena sits stiffly, her back ramrod-straight, and looks at everything but at the warlock.

There’s quite a bit to look at, thankfully, all sorts of trinkets and talismans and charms, and bottles and jars with what Helena assumes are ingredients for various feats of magic; even as she glances around though, she can feel Dinah’s gaze on her, and when the warlock speaks up again she can actually hear the smirk on her face through her voice.

“So, Harley”, Dinah says, addressing the vampire even though Helena is fairly certain she’s still looking at her, now staring at the jars and bottles with great interest, “I have to say, I was not sure what to think when you randomly appeared at my door, but I am quite glad you brought me such a visually appealing guest.”

“We’re here for business”, Helena says, perhaps a bit harsher than intended, as Dinah raises an eyebrow, Harley nudging at her and hissing “rude!”, something the Shadowhunter easily ignores though, “so let’s get straight to the point. No time to waste.”

“Alright then”, Dinah says, apparently not offended by her tone, “but at least let me offer you a drink. Let me guess, you’re a whisky girl?”

She moves her hand and there’s a flash of light, and then she holds a glass of whisky, completely with ice cubes, smirking again as she holds it out to Helena; Helena just stares at her, and after a few moments have ticked by, says “I have to drive”, Dinah shrugging before she takes a sip of the drink herself.

“More for me”, she then says, “what sort of business are you here for, then?”

Her gaze rakes over Helena again as she talks, and the taller woman curses internally as she can feel her cheeks heat up; she clears her throat, looking very intently at some point past Dinah’s right shoulder as she replies, having quite the trouble with meeting the woman’s eyes.

“There’s a vampire”, she says, telling herself to focus on the facts and on business, “a rogue, killed two people we know of, tonight and the night before that. I tried to use my tracking rune to find them, but it sort of… backfired? Threw me against the wall, and didn’t work.”

“Seeing your build, I’ll assume the wall is okay”, Dinah says with a smile, and Helena clears her throat again, she can’t remember anyone ever so blatantly commenting on her looks and physique before, “but yeah, good you came here for that. That is some powerful mojo.”

“And nothing a vampire could do on their own”, Harley adds, Helena making a face when Dinah nods at once, “so this is either some weird new breed of vampire, or our rogue has had help.”

“I need to take a look at the body”, Dinah decides in response, finishing the drink with a few impressive gulps, “Harley, why don’t you be a dear and rush ahead, make sure nobody is messing with the body? I’m sure our Shadowhunter friend here can give me a ride, we’ll meet you there.”

“Can’t you create a portal?” Helena wants to know, the idea of this woman right behind her on the motorcycle making her feel quite warm, and she’s sure she’s not supposed to feel like this; Harley nudges her again, but Dinah doesn’t appear offended by her question, just smiling slightly as she shrugs.

“I could, but that’s dangerous, if I have never been there before”, she points out, and Helena has to admit that is a good point, “I could have us emerge right into a wall, and that would be… unpleasant.”

“Right”, Helena curtly says, coming to her feet, “let’s go then. Before someone else finds the body and calls the cops or something.”

“I’ll go ahead”, Harley says, moving still at normal speed as they leave the apartment together, but once they are out the building, she practically zooms away, Helena feeling quite awkward and uncomfortable as she makes her way to her bike, feeling Dinah’s eyes on her as the warlock is right behind her.

“That’s your ride?” Dinah wants to know, as if it isn’t obvious, Helena thinks to herself a bit sourly, this bike is standard issue for any Shadowhunter who prefers bikes to cars, and if Dinah has been around Shadowhunters before, she certainly knows that, “ _ nice. _ It’s been a while since I rode on such a nice bike.”

“You need a helmet”, Helena tells her, halfway expecting her to protest and claim she’ll use magic to protect herself, she doesn’t know very much about how magic works, so she’ll just have to believe that; to her slight surprise though, Dinah just nods, then does some of her flashy hand movements again, Helena blinking when she holds a motorcycle helmet a second later, one which looks a lot like the one she herself uses.

“Will this do?” Dinah wants to know, smiling, and Helena strictly tells herself to not be stupid when this smile sends a flash of heat into her stomach; she gives a terse nod, then gets onto the bike, and once she has moved it into an upright position, Dinah gets on her behind her, the taller woman going tense when she feels the warlock’s arms wrap around her.

“Relax”, Dinah says, voice surprisingly clear despite the helmet on her head, probably another magic trick, Helena glumly thinks to herself, “I’ve hugged trees which have been softer than you. I won’t bite.”

Helena manages to relax a bit, wondering if Dinah truly has hugged trees or if this has been some weird metaphor; and just when she has managed at least a tiny bit of relaxation, enough so driving the bike won’t be dangerous, Dinah leans forward, and Helena could have sworn she feels her breath on her cheek when she speaks up, despite the helmets they both are wearing at this point.

“I won’t bite”, Dinah repeats, squeezing her middle a bit, “unless I’m specifically asked to.”

Helena feels sweat form beneath the helmet, but she blames it on said helmet, and doesn’t react to the words in any visible or audible way; instead, she starts the engine, and focuses fully on driving, trying her hardest to ignore how it feels to have Dinah’s arms wrapped around her and her front pressed against her back, close enough that she can feel  _ everything _ .

Her grip is a bit tighter than it has to be, and she stares straight ahead, not even glancing at Dinah through the rearview mirror; thankfully, it’s not that far to where the body has been found, and despite the distraction of Dinah so close to her, she manages to get them both there without crashing the bike.

Harley is already crouching next to the body again, thankfully, nobody else has stumbled upon it, or if they have, they haven’t cared enough to do anything; and once Helena and she have arrived, Dinah makes use of her magic again, reassuring them she is blocking them all from sight, so nobody will disturb them.

This makes Helena wonder how powerful exactly the woman is, she makes it look effortless and easy, and Helena suddenly wishes she knew more about all of this magic stuff; she figures it’d be sort of rude to just ask though, so she just watches in silence how Dinah gracefully lowers herself down onto one knee next to Harley, for a closer look at the corpse.

“Hm”, she lets out, then glances up at Helena, “show me what you did to make the magic show itself.”

Helena isn’t fond of the idea of being thrown into a wall  _ again _ , but she figures Dinah needs to see it to work with it; and so, she kneels down next to the corpse as well, and shrugs off her jacket, having to work quite hard to ignore the way Dinah eyes her arms and shoulders as her sleeveless shirt reveals quite a bit more of her build than the jacket has.

She repeats what she has done to track the rogue vampire, and once again, the jolt shoots up her arm; it’s less powerful this time though, doesn’t throw her back against the wall, but only halfway there, and she grumbles as she ends up flat on her back and has to struggle to sit up again.

“Yeah, that’s some powerful mojo”, Dinah comments, frowning as she bends over the corpse again, “and I’ve never seen anyone work that sort of magic, connected to a vampire like that.”

“Can you counter it?” Helena wants to know, all business again, feeling much more confident now that she more or less knows what she is talking about, “so I can track the rogue?”

“Not without some work first”, Dinah tells her, and she frowns, “I’ll just take some of this and get to work. I’ll let you know once I found something out."

She produces a thin glass vial out of nowhere and carefully gathers some of the blood and torn flesh from where the vampire has bitten into the unfortunate man; and then, she straightens up and waves at the still crouching Harley and Helena - before she pulls up a portal out of nowhere, steps through it and is gone, leaving them behind with the dead body.

Helena stares at where the portal has been, and tries very hard to ignore the tingle in her stomach at the thought of seeing Dinah again soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helena: *gay panic intensifies*


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Helena returns to the Institute, the sun has risen, and she’s yawning as she makes her way to the dining hall, figuring she can use her stamina rune if coffee alone won’t help; her father, mother and brother are already there, sitting at one of the tables and having breakfast, her father nodding at her as she enters, and she knows she’ll be expected to have breakfast with them instead of getting some sleep.

Figuring she might as well get in a nap later instead of risking her parents’ wrath, she quickly helps herself to coffee and some food, then goes to join her family; her brother smiles at her as a greeting while her mother and father both just nod at her, her father barely waiting for her to sit down before he starts asking questions.

“Any news on our rogue?” he wants to know, and Helena shrugs, she’s been hoping she’d have some time to come up with a good explanation for the involvement of Harley and Dinah, but apparently, the universe won’t grant her this wish; she briefly considers to just leave a few details out, then decides against, figuring her father will find out either way and will only be pissed at her if she keeps things from him.

“It’s a bit more complicated than we thought it would be”, she thus says, her father raising an eyebrow and prompting her to elaborate, “I tried to use the tracking rune, to find the rogue, the… victim was fresh enough for that. There was some sort of magic blocking me though, tossing me against the wall when I tried to use the rune.”

“Are you okay?” her brother wants to know, worried, even though she’s not visibly injured; she shrugs, then nods, holding back a sigh as she knows her parents and especially her father won’t be happy to hear what she has to say next.

“There was another vampire at the scene”, she tells them, her father raising an eyebrow again, “Harley  Quinn, the one who dropped off the papers from Montoya? She… got help from a warlock, when she saw the magic stopping me from tracking.”

“A warlock”, her father repeats, the disdain in his voice forcing Helena to hold back a wince, “and that vampire again? I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“Well, if that rogue has access to magic, we will need the same to find and fight him”, Pino points out, Helena giving him a brief grateful look, “so that wasn’t such a bad idea. Is it a warlock we know?”

“I didn’t”, Helena says, glad when her father’s look of disdain momentarily moves to her brother before it returns to her, “her name’s Dinah Lance.”

“I’ve heard of her, never met her”, her mother comments, making all three of them look at her, “she’s said to be powerful. Could she help?”

“Not right away”, Helena admits, her mother saying “Franco” in a warning tone when her father makes a face again, “but she said she’d work on it, and let me know once she knows something.”   


“Well, it can’t hurt to have a warlock on our side”, Pino ponders, shrugging at the look this earns him from Franco, “what? You know it’s true, if that vampire has access to magic or has someone with magic helping, we’ll need some mojo of our own to counter it.”

“Warlocks can’t be trusted”, Franco states in response, nodding as if to underline his own words, “so be careful, Helena. This woman probably has her own hidden agenda, she won’t help you from the goodness of her heart.”

Not sure what to respond to that, Helena shrugs, then wins some time by shovelling a spoonful of cereal into her mouth; and thankfully, her mother changes the topic then, by telling Franco that the shipment of weapons he has been waiting for has arrived, and he lights up at once, he always gets happy when new equipment is delivered to the Institute, and especially so when it’s weapons.

Helena wonders sometimes if she should find that worrisome, but then, she likes swords as well, and the crossbow the Iron Sisters have made especially for her, so she figures she’s not one to talk.

“I’ll go make sure everything is here”, Franco says, finishing his coffee with one large gulp, to his wife’s obvious dislike, “Helena, keep me updated on that case.”

“Will do”, Helena says, glad that the news about the shipment have put an end to the questioning; her father gets up and hurries off, and after a minute, her mother does the same, only her brother and she herself remaining at the table.

“So, a warlock, huh”, Pino says after a minute has ticked by during which Helena has focused on eating, “I’ve never worked with one of them before. What is she like?”

For a moment, Helena isn’t quite sure how to respond to that, she’s fairly certain the woman in question has come on to her, but she’s even more certain she doesn’t want her brother to know that; so, she just shrugs, then says “flashy”, and her brother rolls his eyes, that is a description which fits nine out of ten warlocks and they both know it.

“Well, I’ve heard warlocks are often very… open”, her brother says, and she frowns, having an idea where this might go and not liking it one bit, her assumptions confirmed a moment later as Pino grins at her and goes on, “she hit on you?”

“No”, Helena curtly responds, and he makes a face at her tone, “and even if she had, it’s not like it would lead anywhere.”

His gaze softens at that, and he looks as if he wants to say something; before he can though, Helena empties her coffee cup and puts it down a bit more forcefully than necessary, coming to her feet, her brother making a face at her abrupt departure.

“I got work to do”, she tells him, and he sighs as he nods; and while he’s still doing that, Helena already heads towards the door, feeling his eyes on her back as she leaves, and feeling her cheeks heat up.

She knows what he would have said, and she doesn’t want to hear it, it’s things she doesn’t want to hear, things she doesn’t want to think about, things she’s not  _ allowed  _ to think about, and she’s glad she’s made her escape in time, even though she’s fairly certain Pino will bring it up again all too soon.

* * *

The coffee kicks in just the way Helena has hoped, and she doesn’t need to make use of her stamina rune to stay awake and alert; she figures that her age has something to do with that, too, it’s probably easier to function on just a few hours of sleep for a twenty-four year old one than for someone in their fifties, and she’s glad about that, as she knows she has quite a bit to do.

There’s the daily training and workout, they do have runes to enhance strength, but those are just to be used for short bursts and not continuously; Shadowhunters are supposed to be in good shape, and Helena is quite the role model for that, not only fit and strong, but good with weapons, too, and she’s planning to keep it that way.

She goes through her daily workout first, the repetitive tasks helping her empty her mind; all she focuses on is the pull on her muscles as she works to strengthen them, on keeping her breath slow and even, on the sweat she can feel slowly trickle down her back.

There are others in the gym working out with her, but she pays them no mind, she’s never been one to chat much during working out; and when she moves on to weapons training, she’s not all too talkative, either, only responding with positive or negative sounding grunts at the comments the trainer makes as they practice sword fighting.

By the time the training session ends, Helena feels her muscle ache, but in a good, satisfying way; she stretches before she heads to her room, with the intention to take a shower and then get started on the research about their rogue vampire, knowing Dinah has promised her to work on it too, but not wanting to rely solely on the warlock.

And just as she makes that decision, a flicker above her catches her eye, and as she glances up, she quickly recognizes it as a fire message, a flaring piece of paper fluttering down; quickly, Helena snatches it out of the air, the flames vanishing the moment her fingers touch the paper, but it’s still smouldering, and she shakes it a bit to put out the last few sparks before she looks at the few words it contains.

_ Got something. Meet me at my place when you have the time, I’ll be home all day. DL _

Helena’s stomach clenches oddly at the thought of meeting Dinah again, but she rigorously pushes that feeling down, telling herself there is no time for this and that it is highly inappropriate anyway; and she tries her best to keep her thoughts away from Dinah as she goes to have her shower, even though she doesn’t quite succeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papa Bertinelli, be nice.


	6. Chapter 6

As she parks her bike in front of Dinah’s building, Helena wishes that there was a rune to calm her nerves, she’s not quite sure why, but her heart is beating faster than it should and her hands are sweaty; she takes a few moments for several steadying, deep breaths, then makes her way to the warlock’s door, telling herself strictly that this is mere business and nothing else, certainly not a friendly visit.

She raises her hand to knock, but before her knuckles can make contact with the wood, the door is pulled open, and Dinah smiles brightly at her as she greets her; somehow, Helena manages to mumble a greeting of her own, entering the apartment when Dinah steps aside to let her do so.

“Have a seat”, Dinah says, gesturing at the couch again, “you want something to drink? A snack?”

“No thank you”, Helena makes herself be polite, she doesn’t want to risk offending the warlock and maybe end up not getting the information Dinah has acquired, “your message said you got something?”

“Straight to business?” Dinah wants to know, raising an eyebrow, “that is some Shadowhunter thing, right? Do you people ever just relax and have some smalltalk? I’d like to know a bit more about you, if we’ll work together.”

“Like what”, Helena asks, she’s not sure she likes the way this conversation is going, but then, she does need Dinah’s help, and figures it won’t be helpful to be rude to her; the warlock smirks, and shugs, magicking up two glasses of what appears to be orange juice, handing one of them to the Shadowhunter before she sits down as well.

“Let’s start with the basics”, Dinah says, taking a sip of the glass, Helena doing the same just to be polite, surprised at how good it tastes, as if it has been freshly made mere seconds ago, “your age, your favourite colour, book, movie, your type.”

She smiles a clearly flirty smile, and Helena nearly chokes on her juice, somehow managing to not splutter it all over the floor though; she clears her throat while Dinah raises an eyebrow in amusement, feeling her cheeks burn as she once again looks at anything but at the warlock.

“I’m twenty-four”, she says, figuring that is safe to answer, “as for the rest, that is not something we… busy ourselves with.”

“Oh come on”, Dinah says, smirking in a way which makes Helena unsure if it’s still flirty or if she’s making fun of her now, and she’s not sure which option makes her more uncomfortable (probably the flirting though), “you’re not trying to tell me you never read for fun? Or watch a movie? Or that you don’t have a type?”

Helena just shrugs, and wishes Dinah would drop it; and to her relief, the warlock apparently takes pity on her, giving her a look she finds hard to read as she takes another sip of her juice.

“Alright”, she then says, “I can tell you’re uncomfortable, and I don’t want to make you feel that way. No more questions until we got to know each other a bit better.”

She winks, and Helena finds herself blushing again, hiding part of her face behind her own glass; the juice is really good, she thinks to herself, but she’s not sure if she should say anything about it, it might make Dinah ask her weird things again and that is the last thing she wants to happen.

“So”, Dinah says instead of asking her questions she has no answer to, “our rogue. I did some magic on the… samples I took from the victim.”

“And?” Helena wants to know, feeling much more more comfortable at once as they are talking business now, “you find anything?”

“Yes, but you won’t like it”, Dinah bluntly tells her, and she grimaces, she has heard warlocks can be quite direct, but it’s still somewhat of a surprise to actually witness it, “it was advanced magic, nothing a vampire could have done on their own, not even one of the few with a natural inclination towards magic. The rogue has someone helping him out, my guess is another warlock, it was too advanced for anything else.”

“Shit”, Helena says feelingly, and Dinah nods along, even though she smirks a bit at the taller woman cursing, “that’s bad. You have any idea who it is?”

“No”, Dinah lets her know, Helena making a face again, “I tried to see if the magic is… familiar, for lack of a better word, but there either wasn’t enough left to work with or it’s someone I don’t know. But whoever it is, I want to take them down.”

Helena raises an eyebrow at that, and Dinah shrugs, clearly not bothered by her surprise; she drains her glass and puts it onto the table, then leans back into her chair comfortably, Helena trying very hard to not stare at her legs when she crosses them.

“They’re giving warlocks a bad name”, Dinah says, pretty much what Harley has said about the rogue and vampires, “we’ve fought long and hard to not be burned at the stake anymore, and to show we are not all power hungry maniacs who use magic to make others miserable. I want them taken down, along with that vampire - infusing a vampire with magic like this? That’s a no-no, and who knows what else they’re gonna come up with.”

“Why do it in the first place”, Helena ponders out loud, making Dinah shrug, “but… if we managed to capture that rogue, would you be able to work with that then? Use the magic on the vampire to find the one who cast it?”

“Yes, most likely”, Dinah says at once, Helena feeling a bit relieved as this gives them at least somewhat of a chance, “I’d need the vampire alive, of course.”

“That can be arranged”, Helena tells her without missing a beat, it’s not the first time the Institute has captured a rogue vampire alive and she figures it won’t be the last, “and we should discuss your compensation. For your help.”

“I’ll think of an adequate form of payment”, Dinah tells her, and that wording makes Helena a bit nervous again, she’s figured Dinah will just want money, but apparently, that is not it, “but for now, let’s keep our focus on finding this vampire. Your people got any ideas?”

“I don’t think so”, Helena has to admit, with a small sigh, “apart from the usual. Increase patrols at night, have extra people manning the surveillance after sundown. Stuff like that.”

“A good start”, Dinah nods, and Helena feels a sudden urge to smile at the approval, one which she bravely fights back though, her lips twitching despite her best efforts, and she hopes Dinah hasn’t noticed, “I also spoke to Harley, her clan and she are gonna be on the lookout as well. They will alert both of us in case they run into the rogue.”

“Good”, Helena says, she hopes that she herself or someone else from the Institute will be the one to spot the rogue, knowing her father won’t be happy if Harley and her vampires are the ones to find the rogue first, “Harley and her guys know to keep the rogue alive?”

“They do”, Dinah confirms, Helena feeling satisfied at this, but hoping they’ll actually stick to it and not kill the rogue anyway, “and, as it is, I just thought about what sort of payment I will require.”

“And that would be?” Helena wants to know, fairly certain Dinah will name a dollar amount and figuring the Institute will pay it, and so, when Dinah speaks up and does name her price, it catches her completely off-guard, and all she can do is stare.

“I want to go out for an evening”, Dinah says, “dinner, movie, the works. With you.”

Helena blinks, and stares a bit more, and blinks again, and after a minute has ticked by, Dinah starts looking concerned, leaning forward and poking her arm, smiling again though when the Shadowhunter flinches at the touch.

“You still here with me?” Dinah asks, grinning a bit, while Helena clears her throat, “please don’t tell me you Shadowhunter people aren’t allowed to have an evening off.”

“Well, we do”, Helena says, then finds a good excuse, “but not while… that rogue is out there. Maybe once we… caught them?”

“I’ll hold you to that”, Dinah says with another bright smile, and while it makes Helena’s stomach flutter, she only nods stiffly, then claims she has to go, not even emptying the juice glass, but practically hopping up from the couch.

“Don’t be a stranger”, Dinah just says, either not noticing how eager Helena suddenly is to get out or not commenting on it; Helena just lets out a vague noise, then hurries to the door, her heart racing in her chest as she makes her way down the stairs.

She certainly hopes her father will never find out about this, because he surely won’t be happy if he hears his daughter will have a night out in town with a warlock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dinah: :)  
> Helena: *gay panic intensifies further*


	7. Chapter 7

Helena and her brother go on patrol that night, close to the area where the last two corpses have been found; and as it’s just the two of them, Helena tells him about the payment Dinah has asked for, something she never would have done with anyone else around, grumbling when Pino snickers at once.

“Helena”, he then says, in a tone as if he’s talking to a four year old and not his actually older sister, “you are aware she wants a  _ date _ with you as payment, right. Not just an evening out as friends or business partners.”

“I know”, Helena groans, making him snicker again, “which is why Dad can never know about that. I’ll give her that one evening, we need her help for this, and if that is what she wants as payment, she’ll get it.”

“Right, and you just take that one for the team”, Pino dryly says, shrugging at the look that earns him, “and don’t give me that look. You know what I think about all of that.”

“And you know what I think about your thoughts about it”, Helena gives back at once, Pino just sighing in response; before he can say anything else though, Helena’s phone beeps in her pocket, the tone telling them both it’s an alert from the Institute before she even pulls it out to look at it.

As it turns out, the rogue has been spotted through their surveillance equipment, right when attacking a random citizen; thankfully, the location the surveillance team sends them isn’t far from where they currently are, and they both take off running, knowing there’s no time to waste.

Just as they arrive, the vampire finishes draining the victim and lets the unfortunate man drop to the ground, pale and dead; aiming her crossbow, Helena snaps at him to freeze, her trained gaze taking in all details she can pick up, just in case the vampire tries to make a run for it.

It’s a man, with very light blonde hair, cropped close to his skull; she guesses he’s been in his late thirties when he’s been turned, a gold tooth shining from his bloody mouth when he grins at her, exposing his fangs in the process, he doesn’t seem very worried about the fact that she is pointing a weapon at him and that her brother has his sword in hand. 

“Took you longer than I thought it would”, he says, his grin widening, “honestly, with how famed you Shadowhunters are, I was sure you would catch me during the first guy I drained. Gotham men are very tasty, by the way.”

Behind him, at the other end of the alley, Harley and two other vampires appear, Helena making sure to not look at them too openly, it can’t hurt to have someone the rogue is not aware of behind him; he keeps his focus on her, barely acknowledging her brother, but then, she’s the one who can shoot him, so she figures it makes sense for him to keep his eyes on her.

“Hands up where we can see them”, Helena snaps, not commenting on what he has said about finding him sooner; his grin widens even further, and he snickers - before his eyes narrow, his voice now cold and hard.

“I think not”, he says, and then everything happens very fast - he moves so quickly that he blurs, Helena knows vampires can do this, but it still catches her off guard, and suddenly, her brother is thrown through the air, grunting as he hits the wall behind him.

Helena barely has time to turn her head to look at him, then the vampire is behind her, and strong arms wrap around her, stronger than they should have been, pinning her own arms to her side; she snaps her head back as she has been taught, and feels the hit connect, but the vampire barely reacts even though she hears his nose break, he just laughs again, only laughing harder when she twists the crossbow as far as she can and fires, she can hear the bolt hit him, but it has as little effect as the headbutt has had.

And then, his teeth sink into her neck, and she screams, it hurts, it hurts worse than it should, she knows vampires have a sort of venom to numb their victims, but this  _ hurts _ , and she can feel him drink and she can feel blood trickle down her throat.

The world starts to grey around the edges, he’s draining her  _ fast _ , dimly, she can hear her brother scream, and she can hear Harley scream, absurdly, the woman seems to be shouting into her bracelet; and then, a bright light appears, and Helena wonders if this means she’ll die now or if it’s something else. 

It’s swirling, she realizes, and a figure appears in it; and then Dinah is there, and there’s a bright flash as she throws magic at the rogue, and suddenly, the arms holding her and the teeth in her neck are gone, and she finds herself flat on her back, unable to move as she struggles to not pass out.

Pino appears in her field of view as he bends over her, pushes up her shirt to expose the rune beneath her ribcage, and she feels it activate, but nothing happens, the pain isn’t lessening and she can still feel blood run from her throat, and now, she’s not only in pain, but afraid too, this shouldn’t be happening, the rune should be healing her and take all the pain away and make the blood stop.

Helena can’t remember the last time she’s been afraid, but she’s afraid now, and this only grows when Pino shouts “it’s not working!”, and she can hear the panic in his voice, as well.

“Move!” she hears Dinah snap next, and Pino is literally shoved away, the warlock is apparently stronger than she looks; and a second later, Dinah’s hand is on her throat, pressing down onto the wound, cooling and taking the pain away, and Helena groans quietly, she wants to thank her, but can’t find the strength to actually speak. 

“Hush”, Dinah says, in a much kinder voice than the one she has used when she’s pushed her brother away, “don’t move. Don’t try to talk. You’ll be okay.”

She keeps one hand on the wound in her neck, and uses her other to open a portal; belatedly, Helena realizes this is the light she has seen while the vampire has been mauling her, a portal of the sort warlocks use to travel quickly, and Pino recognizes it as well, sounding worried again when he asks Dinah what she’s doing.

“I’m taking her to my home”, Dinah replies, ignoring it when Pino gasps audibly, this is certainly not part of any protocol the Institute has in place, “there’s some powerful magic in this, I need to figure this out and I can take care of the injury at my place, too.”

“I should take her back to the Institute”, Pino says, sounding oddly intimidated, Helena has never heard him sound like that before, and that only makes her more afraid, the glare Dinah sends his way not making her feel much better, either, and neither does the warlock’s response.

“Let me be blunt”, Dinah says, “you do that, and she’ll die. You let her take her with me, she’ll live. You’re free to come along.”

“Okay”, Pino says, and just for that one word, his voice trembles enough to make Helena even more uneasy; she tries again to say something, and Dinah shoots her a strict look now, her hand still on the wound, the wound Helena can still feel bleeding.

“Don’t talk”, she says again, “you can chat all you want once you feel better. Don’t get scared now, I’ll get you into the portal.”

She places her other hand on Helena’s chest, and a moment later, the Shadowhunter feels herself  _ float up _ ; she has a moment to be amazed at the strength of Dinah’s magic, the ease with which she keeps the portal going and does this, too - and then it all becomes too much and the world darkens around her, and by the time Dinah pulls her into the portal, she’s out cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Helena getting snacked on, and not in the good way :(


	8. Chapter 8

For a while after the vampire has bitten her, Helena is drifting.

She drifts in and out of consciousness, and each time she becomes aware, she can feel Dinah’s hands on her, on her throat, on her chest, can feel magic work through her; there is pain, more than there probably should be, and whenever she tries to move as she wakes, Dinah murmurs to her in a soothing voice, tells her to lie still and that she’ll be okay. 

Sometimes, she can hear Pino talk, she’s not sure whom he is talking to, but he sounds nervous, so it’s either Dinah or their father; she has no idea how much time is going by as she lies there, on this pleasantly comfortable soft surface, sometimes it’s day when she wakes and sometimes it’s night, but Dinah is there every time, and every time, Helena can feel her working her magic, it must take a toll on her, but she doesn’t stop.

Then, one day, she wakes and feels more  _ there _ , more aware than she has been the previous times; and clearly, Dinah can tell that something is different this time, as well, as she smiles at her, and for the first time, Helena registers that the warlock looks tired, takes note of the dark circles beneath her eyes.

“Hey”, Dinah says, sounding still as soothing as she has the other times Helena has woken, but hasn’t been quite there, “this is the first time you actually open your eyes properly since that asshole bit you. Don’t try to move yet, here, drink this.”

Helena can feel a straw poke at her lips, and obediently takes it into mouth; she starts to drink, and a second later, a horrible taste floods her mouth, her eyes going wide as Dinah laughs, clearly taking note of her dismayed reaction.

“I know it tastes bad”, she says, Helena letting out a vague noise around the straw, but still gulping the stuff down, trying to taste it as little as possible, “but it will help, trust me. Old family recipe.”

Helena obediently drinks until either the glass is empty or Dinah decides she’s had enough, the warlock telling her to stop before she pulls the straw back; and not even a minute later, Helena feels strength flood her, her eyebrows shooting up, the warlock smirking at her, once again clearly able to tell what is happening. 

“It’s kicking in, isn’t it”, she still asks, Helena nodding at once, feeling so much better that it’s unreal, “good. You had us all quite worried for a while, you know.”

“I heard what you said”, Helena tells her in response, daring to sit up, only now realizing she’s apparently in Dinah’s bedroom, and has taken up half of her bed for however long she has been out of it, “that I’ll die if you don’t take me here with you. It was that bad?”

“It was”, Dinah says, grimacing, prompting Helena to make a face as well, “I’ve been working on finding out what sort of magic was used on that vampire, he drained you way too fast for it to be normal. And it hurt you more than it should have, too.”

“He was stronger than he should have been, too”, Helena mumbles, glad that sitting doesn’t make her dizzy or have any other weird effects on her, “he got away then?”

“He did”, Dinah admits with a sigh, Helena making a face again, “Harley and her people tried to stop him, but he just plowed through them after I’d blasted him away from you.”

“Shit”, Helena grumbles, then sighs, this means they are back to the start and have lost some time on top of it, she’s not sure how long she has been out, but she figures it has been at least one day and one night, more than enough time for the rogue to kill again, “damn, the Institute won’t be happy about that.”

“They already know”, Dinah tells her, and Helena remembers having heard her brother talk to someone, something the warlock confirms hasn’t been a dream when she continues, “your brother called shortly after we’d arrived here and he could be sure you wouldn’t bleed out on my bed.”

“You’ve saved my life”, Helena belatedly catches on to that, Dinah smirking again at how long it has taken her to actually realize this and say it out loud, “um… thank you.”

“You’re welcome”, Dinah tells her, and this time Helena even manages a little smile in return to the one Dinah is giving her, “and just so you know, the first life saving is free. If I need to do that again, I’ll charge you.”

“You gonna ask for a second date?” Helena dryly asks, only to shut up and go wide-eyed; she has no idea where that has come from, she can be dry and sometimes snarky, but usually not like this, and certainly not with someone she barely knows, even if the person in question has saved her life.

_ Probably the blood loss _ , she tells herself, glad that Dinah looks amused and not offended,  _ or maybe something in that drink she gave me. But man, that was some good stuff, I feel so much better. _

“Maybe I will”, Dinah now tells her, Helena reacting much less bluntly now as she feels her cheeks heat up, “depends on how the first one goes. Glad to know you realized that I was asking you out, by the way, but I hope I might get a second one without you nearly dying again.”

“Um”, Helena lets out at that, remembering a not unimportant detail, but not wanting to be ungrateful, especially not after how Dinah has saved her ass - and perhaps, she admits to herself, which might be another effect of the potion or of the blood loss or both, also because Dinah  _ is  _ very attractive, “there’s just… one… problem with that.”

“Your people don’t want you going out with a warlock?” Dinah guesses, and Helena nods, that is part of it, Dinah rolling her eyes in response; Helena clears her throat, and Dinah realizes that this is not all, giving her a curious and somewhat encouraging look, the taller woman finding it hard to meet her gaze though, picking at a loose thread of the blanket she’s sitting on and focusing very hard on that instead.

“They also don’t want people to… have non-straight relationships”, she quietly says, and Dinah frowns, she’s heard that the Institute can be very narrow, but would have thought that this at least has gotten better since the last time she’d has contact with them, “so… When you receive your payment, we’d have to make sure no one I know from there runs into us.”

“Okay, look”, Dinah says in response, easily picking up on how uncomfortable this makes Helena, “I’d enjoy it to go out with you? But I don’t want to cause trouble for you, and I even less want to make you uncomfortable. So… I’m sure we can work out some other sort of payment, once that situation with the rogue has been taken care of.”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, not quite what she has expected, and it makes her stomach clench oddly to think that the dinner and the movie won’t happen, but on the other hand, she tells herself, it’s probably better that way, less danger of trouble for her, and maybe Dinah hasn’t been serious about it, anyway, “I… right. Okay.”

Dinah gives her a slight smile, but it doesn’t make her feel better, and as the warlock tells her she’ll go mix her another glass of the potion which will get her back onto the feet and leaves to do so, Helena’s face falls the moment her back is turned.

She knows this is better, she knows this can’t go anywhere, a simple friendship with a warlock will be frowned upon, but the way Dinah has shut down the idea of a date as payment still hurts, no matter how much Helena tries to convince herself it doesn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Dinah and her magic potions. XD


	9. Chapter 9

After another glass of what Dinah calls her “Return Of The Spunk” potion, Helena feels strong and fit enough to get back to the Institute; Dinah promises her to keep her updated on how her work with the magic used on the vampire goes, and Helena in return tells her she’ll let her know once they’ve captured the rogue, something which will be easier now that they actually know what he looks like.

Her brother is the first to spot her when she gets back to the Institute, and he immediately rushes over to her and hugs her, not bothering to say anything; Helena freezes for a moment, the family has never been big on physical affection, not even her brother, and hugs are a rare thing, but she regains her wits quickly and hugs him back, even managing a smile when he claps her on the shoulder as he pulls back from the embrace after another moment.

“Good to have you back”, he says, Helena giving a short nod, “you fully okay again? Wow, it didn’t even leave a scar, Dinah must be good at this.”

“I guess so?” Helena replies, not sure what to think of this comment or of the way Pino is smirking at her, “I was out cold most of the time. But yeah, I’m fine, she gave me some sort of potion too which helped as well.”

“How kind of her”, Pino comments, making the taller woman shrug, then nod, “considering she barely knows you. She must really like you, she got quite protective of you after that vampire had bitten you.”

“Helena!” her father’s voice rings through the room before she can respond to that, and she only has time to shoot her brother a warning look before she has to turn to face her father; her mother is there too, she notices, and some new guy she doesn’t know, but she can see his runes, so she figures he’s another Shadowhunter, possibly from a different Institute.

“You are fine again?” her father asks, and she gives a brief nod, figuring he already has heard all the details about what has happened from her brother; he gives her a critical look, then nods as well, apparently satisfied with what he is seeing, her mother giving her the briefest of smiles, just long enough so she can actually register it.

“This is Lloyd Valenwood”, her father adds, the man next to him inclining his head slightly as a greeting, Helena has heard that name before, she remembers, it’s not quite as well-known and as old as the Bertinelli name, but not far from it, either, “from the London Institute.”

“Welcome”, Helena says, figuring that a greeting can’t hurt, and wondering what someone from the London Institute is here, but if her father had wanted her to know that, he would have told her; they shake hands, Helena a bit amused to see that he is taken somewhat aback by her height, almost as tall as he himself is, she knows she’s tall for a woman, but it’s always entertaining when it catches men off-guard.

“Pino”, Franco says, making her brother look at him, “why don’t you show our guest around. Helena, my office, now.”

They both nod, and Helena follows her father to his office, already knowing what this will be about before Franco says a word to her.

“Sit”, he says once they have entered his office and she has closed the door, giving them some privacy; she does so, and her father sits down as well, giving her another critical look before he speaks up, not bothering to beat around the bush.

“The warlock”, he says, Helena holding back a sigh as she’s known that her father would bring this up, “Pino told me what happened, that she took you to her home with her.”

“She saved my life”, Helena reminds him of that not unimportant fact, and of the fact that Dinah hasn’t just brought her to her home for fun and games, “the rune wasn’t working, I’m sure Pino told you. I was bleeding out. She stopped it.”

“Pino told us, yes”, her father confirms, “we will contact her about adequate compensation for her help. You have official permission to work with her for this case, but I want to make it clear that this is business. I don’t want you building friendships with warlocks and vampires.”

“Well, she did save my life”, Helena points out again, anyone else might have been upset by his lack of reaction to her near-death experience, but she knows him and how he thinks, he can see that she’s fine now so it’s no longer an issue for him, “but yes, I’m aware of what the Institute thinks about warlocks and vampires. And werewolves.”

“Good”, he says, “now, about the rogue. Pino gave a description of him, we handed that out to all patrolling Shadowhunters. The warlock is working on the magic?”

“She is”, Helena confirms, biting back a comment about how said warlock has a name, she knows her father won’t care and won’t bother to remember or use it, “she’ll let us know once she found something out. Unless we catch that rogue first and get the information straight from him.”

“A warlock juicing up a vampire”, Franco says, his disgusted tone forcing Helena to hold back a frown, “this is why these people can’t be trusted. Even when they are helpful, they always follow their own agenda.”

“Dinah wants whoever did this taken down, as well”, Helena points out, not sure if Pino knows this and has told him already, but figuring it can’t hurt to mention it again in case he does know, “she says whoever is doing this is giving warlocks a bad name.”

Franco just raises his brows at that, not having to say out loud that in his book, all warlocks have a bad name as it is; Helena just shrugs, not in the mood to get into any sort of discussion with him, and after a moment, he leans back in his seat, the way he relaxes telling her that this talk is over before he even has to say anything.

“Keep me updated on the warlock’s work”, he says, the disdain in his voice forcing her to hold back another frown, “and on the chase for the rogue.”

Helena nods, and he turns towards his computer, dismissing her; she waits another moment, just to be sure he won’t have anything else to say, then leaves the office, only allowing herself to sigh once she’s out in the hallway.

All her life, she’s been taught that warlocks, vampires and werewolves can’t be trusted, that they might work with the Institute and pretend to be helpful, but it would always be for their own gain; now though, after what Dinah has done for her, she starts to doubt that things are as simple as her father has always told her, she knows Dinah might just as well have let her die there in that side alley, but the warlock has brought her to her home and has saved her life instead, without asking for a thing in return. 

She has a sudden, inexplicable need to talk about this to someone, but has no idea whom she can actually talk to, her brother is the first one who comes to mind, but she knows he’s busy with the guy from the London Institute, and her mother or father are not an option; perhaps, Helena thinks to herself, the one who is actually responsible for those thoughts is the one she should be talking to, and that seems like a good idea to her, she can also find out how Dinah’s doing about the magic used on the vampire in the process, so she has a good official reason to go to her place.

That seems like sound reasoning to her, and so, Helena gets moving; and not for a second, she admits to herself that she just wants to see Dinah again, it’s barely been a few hours since she’s left her home and already she’s on the way back there, but it’s strictly for business, she tells herself as she makes her way to the garage and to her bike. 

It’s strictly business, she tells herself, it has nothing to do with the flutter she feels whenever Dinah smiles at her, and by the time she’s on the road, she almost believes herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helena: Business only!  
> Also Helena: *makes up random excuses to see Dinah*


	10. Chapter 10

Only when Helena parks her bike in front of Dinah’s building, she realizes it might have been smart to perhaps call or send a message and ask if the warlock is actually at home; then, she tells herself it’s too late to be bothered about this now and that there is only one way to find out if Dinah is around, making her way up the stairs to her apartment and knocking the door, barely realizing how she holds her breath as she waits to see if there will be an answer.

The door opens, and Dinah looks surprised to see Helena standing there, then smiles, clearly delighted to find the Shadowhunter on her doorstep; she steps aside as she greets her to let her enter, giving her a curious look as she closes the door again.

“Not that I’m not happy you’re here”, she then says, and Helena immediately feels awkward again, clearing her throat, “but to what do I owe this pleasure? I wasn’t quite expecting you to randomly appear at my door.”

“I, um, I was wondering how the progress is going”, Helena decides to go with the business part first; Dinah raises an eyebrow at her as she leads the way to the living and offers her a seat, then smiles, sounding amused, but not condescending when she replies.

“You are aware it’s just been a few hours since you’ve left, yes”, she says, Helena fidgeting a bit, “I am good at what I do, but not  _ that  _ good.”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, feeling like a fool now, certainly Dinah must think of her as one; to her surprise, the warlock gives her an unexpectedly kind looks, then shows that she’s either good at reading people or actually is using magic to do so, as she quickly pinpoints the real reason for why Helena has shown up at her door just hours after leaving.

“But I imagine you know this”, the warlock says, “and this is not the only reason for why you are here.”

“Why did you save me”, Helena blurts in response, and Dinah raises an eyebrow again; Helena fights the urge to hide her face in her hands, wishing she was better at the whole social interaction thing, she’s been learning how to fight from the moment on she’d been old enough to walk, but no one ever has bothered to teach her how to handle something like this. 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Dinah answers her question with one of her own, and Helena makes a face, “what, you think I just would have let you bleed out there or something?”

“You barely know me”, Helena points out in response, making Dinah raise an eyebrow again, “you had no reason to care, and yet you used magic to save my life. Quite a bit of it, too, if I am not mistaken. And you didn’t even charge for that.”

“Helena”, Dinah says, her smile fading as she seems somewhat upset by the Shadowhunter’s words, even though Helena doesn’t quite get why, “you know I was kidding when I said the first life saving is free and I’ll charge for the next one, right? You don’t charge someone for saving them, and when someone needs help, you give it to them, it doesn’t matter that I barely know you. You were hurt, I was there, I could help, so I helped.”

“I didn’t mean to offend you”, Helena says, feeling bad, fidgeting uneasily, Dinah’s gaze softening as she can quickly tell how uncomfortable the other woman is and that she truly has meant no offense, “I just… I don’t know…”

She trails off and tries to find the right words, she figures Dinah knows what most of the Shadowhunters think of warlocks, vampires and werewolves, but she already feels like she’s offended her, and she doesn’t want to make this worse, her mind racing as she tries to figure out how to say what’s on it. 

“My family”, she finally starts, Dinah looking at her attentively and letting her speak, even though she probably has no idea where this is coming from, “we’ve been doing this for a long time. And… I started training to be a Shadowhunter from the moment on I could walk, you know, and my father taught me a lot but… he also kept talking about how no one who’s not one of us can be trusted. Especially not warlocks, vampires and werewolves.”

“I know”, Dinah quietly says, Helena giving her an unhappy look, but at least the warlock doesn’t look offended or upset, so Helena figures it’s going okay so far, “I know what many of you think of people like me.”

“I did, too”, Helena admits, feeling bad again, but not wanting to lie, Dinah has saved her life after all and that is more than enough reason to trust her, “I was raised to think those things. But then Harley was so willing to help stop the rogue, and so were you, and you saved me and…”

“And now you don’t know what to believe anymore”, Dinah finishes for her, now realizing what this is about, “I get that, and I’m not holding it against you. Alright? We’re good.”

“I just want you to know I don’t think that way, not anymore”, Helena says, suddenly feeling a strong need to get this point across, “I did, yeah, and I can’t change that, but… After what you’ve done, I can’t think like that anymore. And I’m really sorry I did.”

“Well, while you have been a bit unfriendly the first time you were here, you’ve never been outright rude”, Dinah tells her, amused when Helena blushes a bit, “so you got nothing to apologize for with me. And I’m glad you came to me with this, I know it can’t have been easy.”

“I didn’t really know whom else I could talk to about this”, Helena admits, glad that she manages to not blurt out how she also has wanted to see Dinah again, the woman might bring the date as payment up again and she’s not quite sure she’s ready for this, “the only person I’m kind of close to is my brother, and he was busy, so…”

Dinah raises an eyebrow at that, and it makes Helena wonder if she sees her as pathetic now, having no one she can talk to but her brother; a moment later, Dinah smiles though, and reaches out to gently touch her hand, and Helena isn’t quite sure if the jolt she feels run up her arm at the contact has been caused by magic or if it’s perfectly mundane and just a reaction of her own body to a tender touch, she doesn’t get many of those after all.

“Well, now you got me, too”, Dinah tells her, making her smile a bit, despite how awkward she still feels, “feel free to drop by anytime. But maybe text or call first next time? You were lucky I was home, I don’t want you ending up here when I’m not and have you standing in front of a locked door. You people have phones, right?”

“Of course we have phones”, Helena says, her indignant tone making Dinah smirk slightly, “some of us may hold outdated views, but our technology is always state of the art. Here.”

She pulls her phone from her pocket, unlocks it and hands it to Dinah, the warlock still smirking as she saves her number to it; once she has done so, she gives the phone back, then comes to her feet, giving the Shadowhunter another smile as she gestures at the work she has been doing on the samples she’s gotten from the rogue’s victims.

“I did get a bit done since you’ve left”, she says, Helena getting up from her seat as well for a closer look, stepping closer to the warlock in the process, “not very much, I’m afraid, but better than nothing. I can at least tell you that this was not done by a warlock from here, it has to be someone who came to town recently. If it had been someone who’s been here a while, I’d know, we all have a… signature, sort of, and this one is new.”

“Well, at least this means we can rule a bunch of them out”, Helena says, Dinah nodding - before she looks at her, and smiles, placing her hand on the taller woman’s arm, her eyes and smile softening as Helena looks at her.

“You just proved you meant it when you said you’re not thinking that way anymore”, Dinah tells her, and Helena blinks, she hasn’t really thought about it when she has said those words, just having said the first realization which has come to her mind when Dinah has told her it hasn’t been a local warlock, “someone else… someone like your father… might have asked if I’m not lying to cover a warlock I’m friends with. You believed me without question.”

“I have no reason to think you would lie to me”, Helena lets her know, making her smile again, “also, you did save my life. If I can’t trust someone who did that for me, I can’t trust anybody.”

“Well, you can trust me”, Dinah reassures her, squeezing her arm and making her blush again; she clears her throat, then nods, managing a small smile of her own, her father’s words about not getting into any sort of friendship with this woman for the moment forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, Helena. Always good to admit past mistakes ;)


	11. Chapter 11

Helena has been prepared to use checking Dinah’s progress as an excuse for why she has been there, should anyone ask her where she’s been when she returns to the Institute; either people haven’t noticed she has been out and about though or don’t care, as no one asks her where she’s been, and when she finds her brother and the London Institute guy, Pino tells her their father hasn’t left the office since his talk with Helena there, Helena somewhat relieved that she won’t have to tell him she’s been out to see Dinah.

Pino keeps shooting her odd looks though, so she figures he suspects where she has been; to her relief, he doesn’t say anything about it though, perhaps because the Lloyd guy is still hanging around, Helena doesn’t like him talking about certain things when it’s just the two of them and he certainly knows she’ll like it even less if he does it while anyone else is around.

“So, um, Helena, right”, Lloyd says, distracting her from her thoughts, “you have a very impressive weapon collection here, better than ours in London.”

“I guess”, Helena responds, eying him, not sure why he would try to make small talk like that with her, but Pino is looking at her oddly again, so she figures she should at least try to make an effort to be polite, “um, thank you? If you’re going to work here with us, you’ll get to pick from there, you know.”

Pino, for some weird reason, winces as that, and now Helena looks oddly at him; she doesn’t say anything though, but notices that Lloyd looks uncomfortable as well, and while that seems weird, Helena doesn’t question it, having other things on her mind for the moment.

“I’ll go get some rest”, she tells them, Pin nodding a bit too eagerly, and Helena finds herself wondering what is going on with him, “I’ll need to patrol at night, be on the lookout for the rogue.”

“You do that”, Pino says, nodding, then glancing at Lloyd, “hey, maybe you should take Lloyd along. So he gets his first look at Gotham with a skilled asskicker by his side.”

“Um, yeah, sure”, Helena agrees after a moment, not quite sure if this really is a good idea, but then, the man apparently has been sent to this Institute to work with them, so he might as well come along, “why not. Can’t hurt to have some backup.”

“Cool”, Lloyd says, giving her a bright smile which she doesn’t return, “I’ll be ready when you are.”

“Ten”, Helena tells him in response, she can tell he is trying to be nice but really is in no mood to strike up another friendship right now, “meet me at the exit, you’re not there then I’m going without you.”

“O-okay”, Lloyd stutters, his smile vanishing, while Pinow makes a face again; again, he doesn’t say anything though, and after another moment, Helena tells them she will get some sleep now, telling Lloyd he should do the same, if he wants to be fit for the hunt at night.

“She gets nicer once you get to know her”, she still hears Pino say, and rolls her eyes, not quite sure why her brother would care if she is nice to this guy or not; then, they both fade from her mind as her thoughts wander to Dinah again, to how it has been to stand so close to her while the warlock has been showing her the work she’s been doing on her samples, and she barely realizes how she starts to smile to herself.

* * *

When Helena makes her way to the exit at ten p.m., Lloyd is already waiting for her, she gives him points for that; and he gets another one for having found weapons in the meantime, a bow and a sword, close to her own chosen gear, and she gives him a nod of appreciation as she steps up to him.

“You ready?” she still asks, and he nods eagerly, then asks her where they are going; figuring it will make sense to stick close to the rogue vampire’s former hunting grounds, Helena tells him, then asks him if he has brought a car or bike, and he grimaces before he shakes his head.

“You’ll ride with me, then”, Helena decides, she doesn’t like the thought of this man sitting close behind her on her bike, but also doesn’t want to waste time finding him a ride and then making sure she won’t lose him; he looks a bit uncomfortable at that, but nods, and they head to the garage together.

He holds on a bit too tight to her as she drives, and Helena wonders if he’s frightened, that would be bad for a Shadowhunter; she thinks back to how Dinah has ridden with her, which has been much nicer than this bulky man behind her who clings to her so tightly, and she’s glad it’s not that far to where she plans to park and get going on foot, so they won’t miss anything.

“Good Lord, you drive fast”, Lloyd comments as he is quick to hop off the bike the second Helena has parked it at their destination, obviously happy to be able to do so, Helena almost expects him to kiss the ground for a moment, raising an eyebrow at him once she has pulled off her helmet.

“How are you nervous riding a bike when you fight demons every day”, she wants to know, and he just shrugs; Helena shakes her head, then shrugs it off, making sure her crossbow is loaded before she gets moving.

“We’ve found the rogue’s victims in this area”, she explains as she walks, Lloyd nodding along, “this seems to be a hunting ground for him, of sorts.”

“Yes, in London, the rogue ones often stick to the same area, too”, Lloyd comments, glancing around, “so starting here is probably… good Lord!”

He lets out a yelp while Helena just stops walking, magical portals not quite as unusual to her as they appear to be to Lloyd; and out of the portal Dinah steps, followed by Harley and, to Helena’s surprise, Renee, the way the warlock smiles at her quickly distracting her from that though.

“Hey”, Dina greets, and once again Helena barely is aware that her own lips curl in a smile as their eyes meet, “we’re here to look for the rogue. Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, I’m Lloyd”, the man in question introduces himself politely, “I just transferred here from London. Pleasure to meet you.”

“London!” Harley says, clapping her hands in excitement, “how exotic! Welcome to Gotham.”

“I’m not sure London counts as exotic”, Renee comments, shrugging at the look Harley shoots her, “and you guys can chat later. We got a rogue vampire to catch.”

“Remember, leave him alive”, Dinah says, stepping to Helena’s side so casually as if they do this together all the time, “or I can’t get much work done. Are we ready?”

“Ready”, Helena says, Lloyd fully forgotten for the moment as her focus is on Dinah, the warlock still smiling at her, “let’s go catch that rogue.”

“Right”, Renee agrees, while Harley nods eagerly; and then, the five of them get moving, ready to find and stop the vampire, hopefully before he can hurt anyone else, all of them determined to not let him get away once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, vampire hunting :D


	12. Chapter 12

As it turns out, having a warlock on the team is quite useful to muffle the footsteps of Harley, Renee and Dinah herself; Helena and Lloyd use the rune specifically made to let a Shadowhunter move soundlessly, and none of the others misses the way Dinah looks at Helena’s arms when she pulls off her jacket to access said rune and activates it.

They move soundlessly through the dark, quiet side alleys close to where the rogue vampire’s last victims have been found, close to, Helena remembers, to where she has been bitten and would have died, if it hadn’t been for Dinah; the night is surprisingly quiet, especially for Gotham, and Helena finds herself wondering if people have caught up on what has been happening in this area and are staying away.

“Hold up”, Renee whispers, and they all stop at once, “I smell blood.”

She sniffs audibly, and for a moment, there is a flash of green in her eyes; Lloyd looks taken aback, but is smart enough to not say anything, something else Helena gives him points for.

Renee takes the lead, walking with fast secure steps, her fine nose making it easy for her to track the scent; and it doesn’t take long until they round a corner and spot the rogue, feeding on an already lifeless man, the vampire looking up in annoyance as he becomes aware of them, as well.

“You again”, he then says, glaring at Helena specifically, “how are you still alive? You should have died after I bit you.”

“I’m resilient”, Helena tells him, and Dinah smirks a bit, amused at the response and also a bit glad that Helena hasn’t revealed it has been her who has helped her - it has been some powerful magic, and she doesn’t want the vampire to know her exact level of power, not yet.

“So am I though”, he says, grinning again as he lets his victim drop to the floor; Helena feels Dinah touch her back, so that the vampire can’t see it, and a flash of warmth runs up her spine - and even though she’s fairly certain he’s using his vampire speed to attack her, she sees him move as if in slow motion, immediately realizing what Dinah has done and feeling immensely grateful, the last thing she needs is for the vampire to bite her  _ again. _

She easily sidesteps his attack, and he looks so surprised it would have made her laugh, had the situation been different; now that she’s behind him, she delivers a swift kick to his back, and he gets thrown to the floor, grunting as he quickly rolls around and springs back to his feet.

Whatever Dinah has done is wearing off, Helena can tell, the vampire’s movements already returning to a more normal speed; her kick has had an effect though, she can tell, he’s not smiling anymore as he turns to face her, his eyes darting left and right as Renee and Harley move to the Shadowhunter’s side, lips pulling back in a snarl to expose his fangs once more.

“What is this”, he then spits, Helena taking note though of how he keeps a safe distance between himself and them, apparently not in the mood to attack again right away, “a ragtag bunch of misfits?”

“We got one thing in common”, Renee is the one to answer him, Helena from the corner of her eye noticing how Dinah steps closer to her again, possibly and hopefully to work her magic once more in case it’s needed, “we want to take you down.”

“Such bravado”, the vampire sneers in response, “you’re all such good, tame creatures, sticking to the rules  _ they _ have decided on for you. Don’t you miss it? The thrill of the chase, the hunt? Biting down on a victim’s neck, feel the blood pulse into your mouth… I have to say, you tasted very delicious, Shadowhunter.”

“Well, you won’t get another taste of her”, Dinah speaks up for the first time, the vampire snarling again in response, “and you won’t hurt anyone else anymore, either.”

She brings up her hands, and magic flashes, a bright golden glow which makes Helena smile - for about one second, then whatever spell Dinah has used seems to backfire or something else goes wrong, as it’s the warlock herself who goes flying, a pained yelp coming from her when she hits the building behind her.

Helena hears her sound of pain, and all at once she’s angry, and the way the vampire laughs only makes her angrier, her crossbow is in her hands within the blink of an eye and she fires, still rational enough to remember that Dinah needs the vampire alive, aiming for his leg so he won’t run anywhere anymore.

That makes it his turn to yelp in pain, and he staggers; and while he still tries to recover, Helena gets moving, the crossbow dangling down her back from the chain she uses to transport it where it won’t get in the way, a hard punch to the vampire’s face sending him flat onto his back.

“Bertinelli!” Renee calls out to her, and as she turns her head to look, a silver glinting object comes flying towards her; she catches the handcuffs, then kicks the vampire for good measure, tossing him onto his back, one sharp look at Lloyd prompting the man to get moving as well at last, and they quickly cuff him, chaining his hands behind his back before he has a chance to regain his wits.

“By order of the Clave”, Helena remembers the official part of arresting someone, “we’re putting you under arrest.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts”, the vampire snarls, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the ground in front of her feet before he glares up at her again, “I got powerful friends. They’ll get me out in no time.”

“Shut up”, Helena snaps at him, and feels a bit amazed when he actually does so, even though he is still smirking; ignoring him for now, Helena takes a moment to instruct Lloyd to call the Institute and tell them to send a car to pick the vampire up, then moves to where Dinah is sitting on the ground, Harley next to her, making sure she is okay, Helena barely looking at her though as she is fully focused on Dinah.

“Are you okay?” she asks, worried that Dinah hasn’t gotten back up yet, but then, not so much time has passed since the magic has hit her, and she can’t see any blood, which is a good sign; from the corner of her eye, she takes note of how Harley looks at her, then at Dinah, then at her again - before she retreats, and it’s just the two of them, Harley and Renee a few steps away now while Lloyd is still on the phone.

“Fine”, Dinah tells her, Helena lowering herself into a crouch next to her, since the warlock still hasn’t come to her feet again, “just didn’t quite expect that. Good job on keeping him alive though.”

Helena just shrugs, she has been asked to do so after all, and she knows they need to find out who has been working with the vampire; he’s still grinning, which is a bit unsettling at this point, but then, she figures he might be putting on a brave face, she knows any vampire, werewolf or warlock who knows they’re going to the cells beneath the Institute is aware of what this means for them in the long run.

“Car’s on the way”, Lloyd throws in from somewhere behind her, Helena not even bothering to look at him as she nods; she comes to her feet again, then holds her hand out to Dinah, and clearly the warlock is okay, judging from the smirk curling her lips when she takes hold of it and lets Helena help her to her feet.

“Charming”, she then says, the way she’s looking up at her making Helena feel quite warm inside, but in a good way, “helping a lady out like that.”

Belatedly, Helena realizes she is still holding Dinah’s hand, and lets go, cheeks flushing; she clears her throat while Dinah smirks at her, then stuffs her hands into her pockets and focuses on staring at the captured vampire, as if he could free himself if she lets him out of her sight for a moment, making sure to not look at Dinah again until the car from the Institute arrives, but all too aware of the warlock’s eyes on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helena: *gay panic once again intensifies*


	13. Chapter 13

Lloyd ends up taking the car with the two men who’ve come to collect the vampire, claiming that another ride on the motorcycle with Helena will be too much for him, especially after the excitement of the vampire fight; Helena holds back a snarky comment about how he hasn’t done much during that fight and just shrugs, she doesn’t mind riding back to the Institute on her own.

“Good for me”, Dinah comments as Lloyd walks to the car, making Helena look at her, “that means I get another ride on that bike. You sure your friend is a proper Shadowhunter? He seems a bit squeamish.”

“He’s not my friend”, Helena corrects her, Dinah raising her brows, but not saying anything, “you can ride with me if you want to, but you better magic up a helmet again.”

Dinah smirks and does exactly that, the helmet appearing in her hand out of nowhere; and to her own surprise, Helena finds herself smiling back for a moment, then clears her throat again as she gets onto the bike, telling herself to focus and that the job is only done once the vampire actually is in a cell.

“I’ll talk to you later”, Renee tells Dinah before the warlock pulls on her helmet, making her nod; Harley excuses herself as well, and the two of them head off into the night while Dinah gets onto the bike and wraps both arms around the Shadowhunter.

“Ready to go”, she then says, squeezing her a bit; Helena has to clear her throat again before she can actually start the engine and drive, and once again she is glad it’s not a very long drive, very aware of Dinah’s arms around her and her hands resting on her stomach.

She drives as she always does though, a bit too fast and a bit too reckless, but unlike Lloyd, Dinah doesn’t seem to mind; and when Helena parks in the Institute’s garage and they both get off the bike, Dinah is smiling when she pulls off the helmet, eyes sparkling as she looks up at Helena.

“That was great”, she says, Helena once again finding herself smiling back at her, “we definitely should do this again sometime soon.”

“The dinner”, Helena blurts in reply, before she can overthink and stop herself, Dinah giving her a look of mild surprise, clearly not having expected that, “and, uhm… the movie? Remember…?”

“Sure I remember”, Dinah tells her, smiling again now, “and I’d be happy to do that with you. But won’t you get in trouble?”   


Helena just shrugs, but Dinah can tell she feels awkward again; she gives her another smile, and grasps her hand, glad when Helena doesn’t pull back, the Shadowhunter swallowing heavily as she feels her heart speed up.

This is all quite new for her, but all at once, she’s not worried or afraid anymore; Dinah takes a step closer to her, her eyes never leaving the warlock’s, and she wonders if she could have looked away if she had wanted to, but she doesn’t want to, she feels mesmerized, realizing that they are on the verge of something big.

Dinah moves her free hand to trace her jawline, and Helena pulls in a shuddery breath, her knees feeling oddly weak all at once; Dinah is still smiling though, even as she leans in, and Helena realizes she’s about to kiss her.

And all at once, everything slams back into her mind, all the things she has been taught, and she takes a hasty step back, so fast that she almost stumbles over her own feet.

“We should go”, she says, hating the tremble in her voice and knowing Dinah hears it, too, “so you can do your work on… on the vampire. You know?”   


“Sure”, Dinah replies at once, either not as shaken up by how close this has been or hiding it better, Helena figuring it’s the first option when the warlock gives her another smile, and touches her hand again, her eyes and voice kind when she continues. 

“And no pressure, you know”, she says, Helena swallowing heavily, “I got time, I’m willing to wait.”

Helena can only nod, then briskly turns and walks off, Dinah following her; Helena is fairly certain she can feel the warlock’s eyes on her, but she doesn’t look back, she doesn’t dare look back.

She knows if she turns her head now and her eyes meet Dinah’s, she won’t be able to stop herself, she’ll pull her close and kiss her… and Helena is not quite ready for that and for the things it will lead to, so she keeps her gaze focused on what is ahead of her and doesn’t look back, and tells herself that this is the right thing to do.

* * *

The vampire has been sedated when Helena and Dinah arrive at the cell he’s been put in, lying lifelessly on the cot, eyes closed, his chest rising and falling slowly; Lloyd, her brother and her father are standing at the glass wall part of the cell and are studying the sleeping vampire, turning to look at them though as they hear them approach.

“Helena”, her father greets, then his eyes move to Dinah, and he barely bothers to hide his disdain, to Helena’s annoyance, “and the warlock.”

“Dinah Lance”, Dinah replies cheerily, Helena smirking a bit at her tone, figuring that she is well aware of how Franco has looked at her and is sounding so overly friendly to annoy him, “and you are?”

“Franco Bertinelli”, Pino throws in before the man himself has the chance to say something, “I’m Pino Bertinelli, Helena’s brother. I’ve heard good things about you.”

“Have you now”, Dinah says with a small smile, Franco frowning at how her gaze flickers to Helena briefly before it focuses on Pino again, “good to know. Well, I’ll just do my thing here, then I’ll be out of your hair.”

“I’ll go in with you”, Helena says at once, Franco frowning again, “protocol dictates that no one should enter a cell with a vampire alone, even if that vampire is sedated.”

“Protocol for Shadowhunters”, Franco points out, and even though usually, Helena backs down when he confronts her, she doesn’t this time, to his surprise and dismay, meeting his gaze as she shrugs.

“Dinah is working with us”, she reminds him, Pino grinning to himself, while Lloyd just looks vaguely uncomfortable, “so protocol applies to her, as well. You ready?”

“Anytime”, Dinah tells her, smiling, she’s not quite sure what just has happened, but she’s fairly certain it has been unusual and somewhat big; she can tell Franco is pissed, but he doesn’t say anything else, just glares after them as Helena leads the way to the cell door. 

She unlocks it, then lets Dinah enter first, very aware of the three men watching them; the vampire is still snoring on the cot, not having moved a muscle since Helena and Dinah have arrived, and not stirring when Dinah steps close to him either.

“I need you to be quiet now”, she says after a glance at him, looking at Helena, “you do have a pleasant voice, but no distractions now, please.”

Helena isn’t sure if she’s supposed to be quiet already, so she just nods; Dinah takes another moment to give her another smile, then focuses on the vampire again, taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes as she places her hands on his chest.

There’s a brief pulse of golden light, Helena momentarily squinting, and tensing, almost expecting Dinah to be sent flying, like back at the alley when she’s tried to use her magic on the vampire; this time, nothing of the sort happens though, Dinah just keeps her hands on the vampire and every now and then, there is a pulse of magic, and each time, Helena goes tense again.

Whatever Dinah is doing, it seems to work again though, as she smiles when she finally pulls back - before she reaches over to the vampire’s head and plucks out a few of his hairs, shrugging when she notices Helena raise an eyebrow at her.

“Vampire hair is a potent ingredient for many potions”, she then tells her, carefully pocketing the hair, “and I was running low. Consider this part of my payment.”

“Please tell me that wasn’t in the stuff you gave me”, Helena says with a grimace, and Dinah laughs before she shakes her head; Helena looks relieved, but only for a moment, because the warlock answers, and her eyes widen.

“No worries”, Dinah says, “no vampire hair in that. It did have frog balls, though.”

“What?!” Helena practically yelps, startled; Dinah laughs again as she moves past her and pats her arm, eyes glinting when she looks at her, both of them unaware of how Franco is watching them from outside the cell and of the deep frown on his face.

“I’m just messing with you”, Dinah tells the taller woman, and Helena scowls, only amusing her more, “nothing gross was in that, I promise. Okay, I’m done here, I need to get home and work on this, I’ll call you once I know something?”

“Alright”, Helena agrees, earning another smile from the warlock; Dinah reassures her it won’t take long, then says goodbye, waving to the three men outside on her way past to the exit.

“Helena”, her father says the moment Dinah is out of earshot, “my office, now.”

Helena holds back a sigh, and nods, she knows her father isn’t happy about Dinah working with them, but hopes he realizes it is necessary and won’t reprimand her for that; they  _ have _ captured the vampire though, she tells herself as she walks with him, so the job is at least halfway done, and soon, they will know more about the magic which has been used on the rogue, so she figures it’ll turn out okay.

She’s so busy with her thoughts that she completely misses the look Pino and Lloyd exchange, the two men looking after her and Franco with clear concern on their faces, something Helena also is perfectly unaware of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, Helena. So close.


	14. Chapter 14

“Good work on the vampire”, is the first thing Franco says as he sits down behind his desk, Helena taking the seat opposite of him, “the warlock is finding out who juiced him up?”

“Yes”, Helena confirms, “she told me she’ll call me once she knows something. And that she’ll be quick.”

“Good”, Franco says again, and for a moment Helena feels a bit better about this talk, until he goes on, and she blinks, not having expected that change of topic, “what do you think of Lloyd?”

“He did okay”, Helena replies with a shrug, not sure what he wants to hear, “didn’t do much during the fight, but didn’t get in the way, either.”

“Good”, Franco says for a third time, then smiles, and when he goes on, Helena feels as if all the air is being sucked out of the room, out of her lungs, she can’t believe what she is hearing, she’s almost sure she has misheard.

“I was hoping you’d get along with him”, Franco tells her, “because he has been sent here with one purpose. I spoke to his father, and we agree you’ll make a good match. You’ll get married.”

Helena can only stare at him, this is the last thing she has expected; some things make sense now though, she realizes, the way Pino has looked at her after he’d shown Lloyd around, he must have known already at that point, he has known and hasn’t told her, and if he had been in the room with them right in this moment, Helena would have smacked him.

“The Valenwood name is not as old as ours”, Franco continues, “so he’ll take yours, his parents agreed to that. Another addition to the Bertinelli family, and we all hope that the two of you will bring further Bertinellis into the world.”

Helena feels sick at hearing that, but doesn’t say anything; she knows this is how things are done, her own parents have an arranged marriage, and she knows protesting won’t do any good, her father has that look on his face which tells her that this is settled, no matter what she might think about it.

“We’re thinking Friday”, Franco goes on, and that is faster than Helena has expected, only two days from now, but then, she darkly thinks to herself, he has seen her interact with Dinah, and he might want to make sure that ring gets onto her finger fast, “you okay with that?”

“Sure”, Helena says tonelessly, she could have said no but he wouldn’t have cared, and she knows, so she just agrees, as she has done whenever he has told her what to do for the past twenty-four years. 

“Good”, Franco says, and smiles, “you want to invite anyone? Apart from us, of course.”

“I’m good”, Helena mumbles, and his smile widens a bit; he nods, dismissing her, and she gets up and leaves the office without another word, not surprised to find Pino waiting outside, the worried look he gives her saying more than a thousand words could have.

“He told you, didn’t he”, he says anyway, “about Lloyd.”

“Lloyd Bertinelli”, Helena replies, and Pino grimaces at her tone, “has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it. You knew.”

“I knew”, Pino confirms, and Helena glares at him, she can’t show anger at her father, but she can do so when it’s her younger brother, “he told me. He’s not happy about it either, you know, but his parents…”

Helena stares at him angrily for another moment, then sighs as her shoulders slump, she knows it’s not his fault and she knows he will end up in a similar situation sooner or later; clearly still worried for her, Pino steps closer and places one hand on her arm, a rare gesture in their family, one which shows that he is quite upset, as well.

“You don’t have to do that, you know”, he tells her, but Helena just snorts, they both know better, “you know you won’t be happy, I’ve seen the way you are with--”

“No”, Helena interrupts him, before he can say her name, it would be the thing to push her over the edge now and she knows that, and she doesn’t want to get emotional, not in front of him, not in front of anyone, “don’t go there. It doesn’t matter. He’s made up his mind, and you know how he is. It’s happening.”

And with that, she briskly walks off, not looking back even as she feels Pino’s eyes on her back, and she walks fast, fast enough to make it to her room before the tears of frustration and anger come.

* * *

Once Helena has regained her composure enough to dare face other people again, she leaves her room, and decides that a workout is a good idea, a chance to get rid of her anger and frustration; she figures she’ll be angry and frustrated quite a bit in the weeks and months to come, married to a man she barely knows and doesn’t care for the slightest, and a somewhat bitter smile curls her lips as she ponders how this will do wonders for her shape.

She doesn’t feel like simply lifting weights though, so she goes to find someone to spar; and to her slight surprise and annoyance, Lloyd is there, looking at her somewhat unhappily when she enters, but approaching her nonetheless.

“Hey”, he says, and it makes her feel a bit better that he seems as uncomfortable as she feels, “so you know now, huh.”

“Hope you like our last name”, Helena snarks, and he makes a face, the unhappy look he shoots her reminding her of the fact that he wants this no more than she does; she takes a moment for a calming breath, then sighs, reminding herself to not take this out on him, he’s not the one to blame.

“Look, I don’t want this either”, Lloyd says, confirming her thoughts, “but I think you know that. And we both know you can kick my ass if you want to, not to mention that I generally have no interest in women that way, so you won’t have to worry I’ll jump you during our wedding night.”

At this, Helena can’t help herself, but just has to burst out laughing, amused at the irony of her situation; Lloyd looks confused, and that tells her that Pino hasn’t told him much about her, the man giving her a questioning look as she gets herself under control again.

“This is great”, she then dryly says, Lloyd raising an eyebrow, “a gay man and a lesbian getting married. Amazing.”

“Oh”, Lloyd lets out, then smirks a bit as well, and Helena finds herself liking him a bit more, “well, then. That explains why you were looking at the warlock like that.”

Helena manages a wry smile at that and shrugs, and for a few moments, they just awkwardly look at each other; then, she suggests some sparring to let off some steam, and he agrees, and as they get started, Helena does feel a bit better, even though she’s still far from okay and is quite certain she won’t be for anytime soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes. Poor Helena (I say, as I'm the one writing this...)


	15. Chapter 15

Helena already feels ridiculous when she enters the large hall where this sham of a wedding is taking place, and it only gets worse when everyone turns to look at her.

Lloyd is already waiting at the altar, she sees, dressed in a nice black tux which would have looked better on her; she has ended up in a wedding dress though, thankfully not a too flashy one, but it still makes her uncomfortable, she can’t remember the last time she has worn a dress before this and she certainly hasn’t wanted to wear that one.

The past two days have gone by in a sort of a haze, and have gone by way too fast for her liking; and here she is now, about to get married to this man she has no real connection to and no interest in, her father by her side, the way he proudly smirks at her making her stomach turn.

Helena knows this is what is expected of her, as a Bertinelli, but she can’t quite convince herself it’s the right thing to do, she’s not sure how it can be if it will lock two people together in such a lie, and she can tell from the look on Lloyd’s face that he has similar thoughts.

She also knows though that neither of them truly has a choice, and her heart feels oddly heavy when she starts walking towards her future husband; she thinks of Dinah, the warlock has called her a bunch of times the last two days, but she hasn’t been able to bring herself to taking the calls, even though she knows Dinah probably has called with news about the vampire, possibly having made some progress in her work and having been eager to share it with her.

Helena knows though that hearing her voice would have been too much, it would have pushed her over the edge and she would have told her everything, and she really doesn’t want Dinah to know how pathetic she really is, how much her father controls her life, to the point that he decides when and to whom she’ll get married.

She stops at the altar and turns so she’s facing Lloyd, the man barely able to hold back a grimace when their eyes meet; Helena manages a wry smile, reminding herself again that this is not his fault and that he doesn’t want this either, but she still feels tempted to smack him, if only to see the shocked reactions of the guests, which consist of her family and people from the Institute.

The guy who is responsible for the ceremony starts talking, but Helena barely listens, not really caring what he says; she zones out for a bit, not really wanting to hear it, only to snap back into reality when the door of the large hall flies open, with enough force to hit the wall and create a bang, quite impressive, considering it’s made of old heavy oak.

Ceremony guy trails off as they all look towards the noise, and it’s Dinah standing there, and Helena suddenly finds it hard to breathe.

She notices several things at once, the way Dinah looks at her, encouraging and with a warmth she hasn’t seen in anyone’s eyes in quite a while, except possibly in her brother’s; the way said brother is grinning as he looks from the warlock to her, and the way her father looks incredulous, demanding to know what “this warlock” is doing here.

“You have not been invited”, Franco goes on, glaring at Dinah, who doesn’t even acknowledge him, keeping her gaze focused on Helena, the taller woman staring back at her in disbelief, a million ways this could play out running through her mind.

She knows though there is only one  _ right _ way for this to go, and she turns away from Lloyd to face Dinah, her father glaring at her now, opening his mouth, possibly to reprimand her or to tell her to send the warlock away as she’s obviously here for her. 

“Shut up”, Helena says before he actually has the chance to say something, and this surprises and shocks him enough that he actually does close his mouth again; ignoring him, Helena gets moving, her eyes never leaving Dinah, the small smile she can see tugging at the warlock’s lips telling her this is the right thing to do.

Nobody else dares say anything after how she has made her father fall silent, they all just watch as she walks past them; it seems farther than it should be, but at last, she’s in front of Dinah, the warlock still not saying anything, just looking at her, nobody is saying anything, Helena is fairly certain she could have heard a pin drop in the room.

There are a thousand things she could have said running through her mind, but none of them seem right; and so, Helena decides that actions speak louder than words anyway, taking in a deep breath as she gathers her courage, she has faced vampires and demons, but this moment right now makes her heart race faster than it ever has before. 

Dinah gives her another encouraging look, and Helena takes that last step closer, one hand coming up to cup the warlock’s jaw, and then she’s kissing her, and Dinah is kissing her back, she can feel Dinah’s arms wrap around her and that’s a good thing because her knees are getting quite shaky at the feeling of Dinah’s lips on her own. 

She pulls back after a while, and finds herself grinning like an idiot, forgetting the fact that everyone in the room is staring at Dinah and her; smiling as well, Dinah takes her hands, then takes a critical look at her, raising an eyebrow while Helena blushes, all at once acutely aware of the fact that she’s in a wedding dress and that the groom is standing just a few feet away.

“What is this”, Franco decides to regain his composure and to interrupt the moment before Dinah or Helena can say anything, “Helena! What do you think you are doing?”

“I’m being myself”, Helena tells him, and he huffs, glaring at her, but Dinah is still holding her hands, and that gives her strength, “I never should have agreed to doing any of this. I’m outta here.”

“You leave with this woman”, her father coldly responds, and Pino and her mother look worried, but don’t make a move to stop him, Helena notes, “then don’t bother coming back.”

“Dad!” Pino cries while her mother says “Franco!”, but he doesn’t react to either of them, just keeps staring at Helena; and for the first time in twenty years, Helena doesn’t back off, but keeps holding his gaze for a few seconds, her eyes like steel - before she looks at Dinah, her words making the warlock smile slightly again.

“Let’s go”, Helena says, and from the corner of her eye, she can see her father’s mouth actually fall open; she doesn’t look at him though, just gets moving, still holding on to one of Dinah’s hands, the warlock walking with her, even though she has no real idea where they are going.

“I just need to pack a few things”, Helena does explain once they are out of the hall and far away enough that none of the probably still stunned guests can hear her, “um… you do have a couch I can crash on, right? If not, I can find a hotel or something, that won’t be a problem…”

“Helena”, Dinah replies, rolling her eyes, “of course you can stay at my place, come on, after the stunt you just pulled in there? I don’t think there’s a more obvious way you could have made your choice more clear, and I’m very happy your choice has been this. Has been  _ me _ .”

Helena smiles a bit at that, and shrugs, it has been a somewhat impulsive decision to do this, but she doesn’t regret it, she knows her father won’t forgive this anytime soon - perhaps never - but she can’t find it within herself to care, not after how willing he has been to force her into living a lie just so his precious name wouldn’t get tarnished.

“There we are”, she says as they reach her room, Dinah looking around with a raised eyebrow, it’s perfectly clean and organized, not a single item anywhere out of place; grumbling about the wedding dress, Helena starts to squirm this way and that in an attempt to reach the zipper, and after watching that in amusement for a bit, Dinah takes pity, stepping closer to her and placing one hand on her arm to get her to stop moving.

“Let me”, she then says, and pulls the zipper down, a bit slower perhaps than necessary, and she can tell it has an effect, Helena swallowing heavily and blushing a bit; clearly, she has no problem with the idea of undressing in front of Dinah though, quickly getting out of the dress, aware of Dinah’s eyes on her when she moves to her wardrobe and grabs some of her regular clothing.

“I have to say”, Dinah speaks up as Helena gets dressed, pulling on black pants and a short-sleeved shirt of the same colour, “that dress looked alright, but you do look much better in your regular attire.”

“Thank you”, Helena dryly responds as she pulls on her leather jacket, making Dinah smile again; quickly, the Shadowhunter tosses clothes into a duffel bag, Dinah watching how she adds a few knives along with her crossbow and bolts for it, and what probably is a cleaning kit for that, the determination and speed with which Helena is packing telling Dinah that she truly wants to do this.

“There”, Helena says as she zips the bag up, “almost done. There’s just one more thing.”

“Yes?” Dinah half states, half asks, not quite sure what else Helena might need - only for the taller woman to answer a moment later as she steps closer to her, wraps both arms around her and kisses her again, a content sigh coming from the warlock as she returns both the embrace and the kiss, quite affected by the feeling of Helena’s mouth on her own. 

“Fair warning”, Helena mumbles after the kiss, her arms still around the warlock, “I’m going to want to do that much more often in the future.”

“Very good”, Dinah lets her know, making her smile again, “cause I very much enjoy when you do that.”

They take the time for another kiss, then Helena grabs her bag and once again says “let’s go”; Dinah smiles, and nods, and grabs her hand again, and together, they head out, Helena a bit surprised that nobody is there to try and talk her out of it, but glad about it as well, now just eager to get away from there, not willing to stay there for another minute longer than she absolutely has to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this fic had chapter names like the episode names of the show, this one would be called Lancenelli. XD


	16. Chapter 16

“Alright”, Dinah says a while later, as they have arrived at her place and she has made some room in her closet for Helena’s stuff, now glad that the Shadowhunter hasn’t brought much, “I’m happy you’re here, but I have to ask this. You are aware what a big thing this is, right?”

“I am”, Helena tells her at once, carefully folding up her clothing, to Dinah’s amusement as she tends to just toss her own in there, but then, she can magic away any wrinkles, a skill Helena doesn’t possess, “my father meant it when he said I shouldn’t bother coming back. But…”

She trails off, and swallows, Dinah stepping closer to her and placing a reassuring hand on her back; Helena takes another moment to gather her thoughts, then goes on, voice soft now, her gaze fixed on her boots as she now finds it hard to look at the other woman. 

“There was this girl”, she says after a few moments have ticked by in silence, “when I was sixteen. Eileen, she’d been a transfer from the New York Institute. We had… something going, I’m not sure we were in love, but it was… teenagers, you know? Fooling around, that sort of stuff. But… I liked her. I liked being with her. Then my father caught us one day. She was gone back to New York in the next, I never heard of her again, and he made it very clear to me that he never wants to see his daughter kiss another woman ever again.”

“Shit”, Dinah says feelingly, and Helena lets out a sigh, “Helena, I’m sorry, no one should have to go through something like this. And his idea to make sure this doesn’t happen again was to force you to marry that guy?”

“That probably was a combined effort of his parents and mine”, Helena replies with a roll of her eyes, “he told me he’s gay shortly after I’d learned I’m supposed to marry him. Hey, how did you know that was happening anyway?”

“Oh, your brother called me”, Dinah reveals, and Helena blinks, not having expected this the slightest, “that was sort of funny actually, I didn’t recognize the number, and when I answered, the first thing he did was shout at me ‘she’s getting married, do something!’, and I had no idea who he is.”

“Oh jeez”, Helena says, smiling a bit now, touched that her brother has done his for her, but also a bit annoyed because she’s fairly certain he’s gone through her phone to get Dinah’s number, “what did you do?”

“Well, first of all, I asked him who the fuck he is”, Dinah tells her, making her snicker a bit, “he told me he’s your brother, and that you’re marrying this guy you barely know and that I should do something about it, if I really care for you. So, there I went, and look how well that worked out.”

“Wow”, Helena lets out, making the warlock smile slightly, “I’ll have to thank him for that the next time I see him. If you hadn’t shown up there, I would have just gone through with it, but having you there… That gave me the push and strength I needed to finally stand up for myself.”

“I’m glad”, Dinah tells her, wrapping both arms around her, “and it was very brave to do what you did. Now we can figure this out together, one step at a time.”

Helena nods, glad that Dinah has immediately been willing to take her in, even though they’ve literally had their first kiss an hour ago; she knows she could have figured something out on her own, but this does make things easier, and it means she’ll get to spend more time with Dinah, another clear plus point.

“So”, Dinah says, distracting her from those thoughts, “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry, and I imagine you were too nervous on your big wedding day to eat much.”

She grins at the last few words, and Helena rolls her eyes, knowing it’s good natured teasing though and not anything malicious; now that Dinah has mentioned food, she does realize she is hungry though, and so she nods, only to jump when Dinah moves one hand and creates a portal out of nowhere.

“You’re about to learn the first of many perks which come with dating a warlock”, Dinah tells her, smirking as she takes her hand, “so what do you feel like having? Sushi in Japan? Pizza in Italy? Or how about schnitzel in Austria?”

“Oh, uhm”, Helena stammers, making Dinah laugh a bit again at her gobsmacked reaction, “...surprise me…?”   


“Pizza it is then”, Dinah decides, still grinning, “fitting for a Bertinelli, and I’m fairly certain you speak Italian, too. You can impress me with that.”

“Per me va bene”, Helena replies without missing a beat, Dinah giving her a look of appreciation - before she smirks and nods towards the portal, telling Helena to not let go of her hand before they step through it, the portal closing behind them with an audible  _ pop _ as it takes them to their destination.

* * *

“Yeah, I was right”, Dinah declares as they arrive back at her home quite a while later, Helena momentarily disoriented from both the portal travel and due to the time difference, when they’d left Rome it had been afternoon and here it was night now, “your Italian really impressed me. You sounded hot, we gotta go there more often.”

“I’d like to try Japan next time”, Helena admits, making Dinah smile, she figures Helena hasn’t had much time for fun stuff like travelling and trying new things, and she’s glad the Shadowhunter is so willing to do so now, with her, “I don’t speak Japanese though, so I won’t be able to impress you much there.”

“Warlock”, Dinah reminds her, “there’s magic for that sort of thing, so no worries about the language barrier.”

“Good to know”, Helena says with a small smirk, making Dinah smile back at her before she pulls her in for a kiss; and when they pull apart again, Dinah becomes aware of the fact that the taller woman looks somewhat tired, not surprising after the day she’s had.

“Why don’t we get some sleep for now”, she thus suggests, and Helena nods, looking a bit grateful at the suggestion; and then, to Dinah’s surprise, she glances around before she looks at the warlock again, Dinah raising an eyebrow at what Helena says next.

“So you got a spare bedroom?” Helena wants to know, completely straightfaced and serious, “or I can sleep on the couch, that is fine, too.”

“...I have a bed large enough for four people, if they cuddle”, Dinah points out, “so unless the idea makes you squirm, I was thinking we might both sleep there. And I promise I won’t get handsy, unless you want me to.”

“Um”, Helena lets out, blushing, making Dinah smile again, “that idea does make me squirm but… probably… not in the way you think.”

“In a good way?” Dinah asks, smile widening when Helena nods at once; she takes hold of Helena’s hand again and nods towards the bedroom, and Helena walks with her at once, smiling as well now in giddy excitement, to the obvious amusement of the warlock.

They both have been somewhat tired when they’ve made it back from Rome, but it still takes quite a while until they actually do fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personally, I would have gone for sushi, but you do you, Helena ;)


	17. Chapter 17

Helena wakes to sunlight streaming into the bedroom, Dinah still sleeping soundly, cuddled up to her; and she can’t feel anything but good and content, she wonders if that means something is wrong with her, after everything which has happened at the Institute the previous day, she figures she should be upset or at least worried, but all she feels is happy, happier than she has been in a while.

On the other hand, she ponders as she lies there, taking in Dinah’s scent and the warmth of the warlock’s body against her own, she’s finally true to herself now, and she has stood up to her father, after years of having let him dictate everything in her life; and even after how he has told her she shouldn’t come back to the Institute, Helena figures she’ll be okay, she’ll find other ways to make a living, she still has her runes and her skills.

_ Unless they decide to de-rune you _ , she then realizes, grimacing, but quickly decides that won’t happen, what she has done has been rash and perhaps a grave insult to her father and her family’s name, but to be de-runed, one has to do more than that, actively betray the Institute and work against everything they stand for, and no one can accuse her of having done that.

Dinah stirs against her, and tears her out of her thoughts; and a moment later, the warlock’s eyes meet hers, and Helena smiles, voice still somewhat raspy from sleep when she says “good morning”. 

“Morning”, Dinah responds, smiling as well as she props herself up on one arm for a gentle, slow good morning kiss; and immediately, Helena is turned on again, something Dinah easily picks up on, smirking as she pushes the blanket down a bit to get a good look at the other woman’s body.

“You know”, she says, pretending she has no idea that Helena is aroused, “I know what some of those runes mean, but not all of them. What does this one do?”

She traces the rune in question, dark lines beneath Helena’s breastbone, and takes note of how the Shadowhunter pulls in a sharp breath at her touch; she still sounds surprisingly steady when she answers though, and tells her that it’s for soundless moving, Dinah letting out a “hmm” before she focuses on another one.

“And this one?” she asks, running her finger over it, amazed that it doesn’t feel any different compared to the unmarked area around it, as she knows the runes are practically burned into the skin, “what does this one do?”

“Sort of like night vision”, Helena tells her, her breath a bit short now; Dinah takes a moment to smile at her, then her gaze moves to the side of her neck, to the Z-shaped rune there, she knows what this one does, but the location of it gives her an idea, and she makes use of it at once.

“Tell me what that one does”, she mumbles, then moves so she can trace it, not with her fingers this time, but with her tongue; Helena lets out a groan in response, and Dinah smiles against her throat, this is exactly what she has been going for.

“Anti-tracking”, Helena manages, her breath hitching before she can continue, “blocking.”

“You sure?” Dinah mumbles against her skin, and she groans again, “it’s not doing a good job of blocking me from turning you on.”

“Hrngh”, Helena lets out, Dinah snickering at her sudden inability to talk; she pulls back from her neck, to her obvious dismay, and looks at her, a twinkle in her eyes when she speaks up.

“Use your words, babe”, she advises, but the pet name only seems to make it worse, as Helena lets out another wordless grunt; she pulls Dinah close for a searing kiss, but before they can do more than that, a loud blaring sounds comes from where her pants lie on the floor a few feet away, and she pulls back, frowning.

“What is that”, Dinah wants to know, frowning as well, “you know they make better ringtones these days, right?”

“That’s not a call”, Helena replies, getting out of bed, Dinah enjoying the view as they both have fallen asleep naked; the Shadowhunter is all business now though, her frown deepening when she finds her phone, concern on her face when she looks at the warlock again.

“This is the Institute alarm”, she tells her, Dinah now frowning as well, “used only when the place is under attack. I can’t remember the last time this has been used.”

“Damn”, Dinah sighs, getting out of bed as well, Helena watching her with slight surprise, “well, rain check on the morning sex then. How fast do we need to be there?”

“As fast as possible”, Helena lets her know after a few seconds, “this is alerting everyone, but... “

“I’m coming”, Dinah tells her, “if this some big sort of threat, you might need some magical support. If not, I’ll at least be there to turn your father into a frog, should he try giving you a hard time for coming to help. Also, we can get there the fastest way possible, with a portal.”

“Can’t portal right in”, Helena points out, already gathering clothes and her weapons, “they’ve got wards up against that, but yeah, you can take us to the front door or something.”

Dinah nods, then makes a quick gesture at Helena, golden light briefly enveloping her; Helena raises an eyebrow at her, and the warlock smirks, repeating the magic on herself afterwards before a quick snap of her fingers has her fully dressed, to the clear astonishment of the Shadowhunter.

“Gave you the magical equivalent of a shower”, Dinah explains, and Helena realizes she does feel fresher, as if she indeed just has stepped out of the shower, “can’t have us showing up there all smelly, can I? That will make a bad impression.”

“That is quite the skill”, Helena says as she pulls on her shirt, Dinah briefly regretful as this hides much of her body from view, “another perk of dating a warlock, I assume?”

“Pretty much”, Dinah confirms, watching how Helena puts on her pants, socks and boots in record time, then quickly straps the knives she’s brought to her thighs and calves, hiding the final one in her boot, “there’s a bunch more, but you’ll find out over time, can’t give all my secrets away too quickly.”

Helena smirks at her at that, then finishes her preparations by pulling on her gloves and slinging her crossbow onto her back; she doesn’t bother with a jacket, if there is a big fight happening at the Institute, she’ll need quick access to her runes, and the most important ones for fighting are on her arms, a fact Dinah is appreciative of as it at least gives her a good view of the Shadowhunter’s well defined biceps and forearms.

“Alright”, Helena says, “ready when you are.”

Dinah just smirks, and nods, then brings up her hand and conjures up a portal; she grasps Helena’s hand, and they step through together, the portal snapping shut behind them as it takes them right to the front door of the Institute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, no morning super happy fun times... XD


	18. Chapter 18

The Institute looks perfectly normal from the outside when Helena and Dinah step out of the portal, but Helena knows this doesn’t mean much - there’s wards up to make sure no civilians realize what is going on, the building looking like a rundown, abandoned church from the outside and not like the base for a secret operation fighting supernatural threats, and the wards keep everyone from seeing or hearing anything of what is going on inside.

“Stay behind me, for now”, Helena tells Dinah, making her nod at once, “we have no idea what is going on in there.”

Dinah nods, not bothering to point out that she can take care of herself, she knows Helena is aware of this, but the Shadowhunter is all business now, tense and ready to fight, and she stays a step or two behind her as she pushes the door open and steps inside.

The moment they are past the wards, the chaos hits them, there’s screaming and fighting sounds, and immediately, Helena’s crossbow is in her hands and loaded, Dinah impressed at the speed with which she has done so, and she readies a few spells of her own, just to be on the safe side.

Walking at a brisk pace, Helena moves down the hallway, approaching the nearest source of sound; it’s one of the smaller offices, a Shadowhunter fighting two men wearing black ski masks in there, and Helena quickly takes care of one of them, firing a bolt into his neck, dark satisfaction in her eyes when he goes down.

The Shadowhunter in the room takes care of the other man, snapping his neck with a quick, practiced move; then, he turns to look at Helena, and she knows he has been at the wedding, has witnessed it all, but he doesn’t seem surprised or angered to see her, just glad and somewhat thankful for her help.

“What’s going on”, she asks before he can say anything, “I got the alert through my phone, we came as fast as we could.”

“Those guys just started popping up out of nowhere”, the guy tells her, grimacing, “we were all doing our thing and here they were, it’s like they just portaled in, but we know that’s not possible…”

“Well, they’ll realize they’ve attacked the wrong place”, Helena grumbles, then turns to Dinah, “I need to find my brother, make sure he’s okay, he’s usually at the gym this time of day…”

“Lead the way”, Dinah tells her, and if Helena’s colleague finds it strange she is here, too, he doesn’t say anything, just watches them go before he realizes there is more fighting to do and heads out, as well. 

Helena hurries down the hallway to the gym, Dinah still two steps behind her, just in case of an unexpected attack; and as it turns out, this has been a good thing to do, as there’s a sort of snarl coming from one of the rooms lining the hallway just when Helena walks past it, and then one of the masked guys comes barreling out of the room and slams into her, hard enough to push her up against the opposite wall.

He snarls in her face, and through the mouthhole of his mask, she can see sharp vampire things; this startles her so much that she almost forgets to fight back for a moment, but Dinah has her back, a flash of bright magic hitting the vampire, and he starts screaming in pain as his clothes catch fire, thankfully letting go of Helena so he can flail and stumble around until he drops dead, Dinah quickly putting the flames out again before they can spread.

“Thanks”, Helena says, earning a smile from the warlock; she smiles back at her for a moment, then bends down to yank the mask off the dead vampire’s head, but he’s too burned to let her make out his features, and she has no idea if it’s one of the few the Institute has had contact with before or not.

“Vampire”, she says, gesturing at what can be still seen of the teeth, Dinah frowning in response, as they both know that the vampire clans in town should know better than to attack the Institute, “think this has something to do with our friend locked up downstairs?”

“Probably”, Dinah agrees, “maybe they’re here to get him out? Perhaps we can catch one alive for questioning.”

Helena nods, then gets moving again, eager to get to the gym and make sure her brother is okay; there’s no further attacks on the way there, and when they arrive at the gym, Pino and Lloyd are there, fighting a group of masked vampires, standing back to back, but clearly having a hard time keeping them all at bay.

Dinah takes care of one of them with another fire spell, and Helena takes another one down with her crossbow; one of them snarls and rushes at her, and she quickly slings the crossbow onto her back and pulls one of her knives, slashing at him the moment he is close enough.

He seems unimpressed by the injury she causes him, even though blood immediately starts gushing from it; he swings his fist at her, but she easily ducks the punch, and slams the knife upwards and into his belly, twisting it as she yanks it back out.

“Remember”, Dinah calls out to her as the vampire goes down, twitching, “we need one alive!”

“Says the woman setting them on fire”, Helena counters, and Dinah smirks as she does exactly that to another one; apparently, this prompts the ones which are left to decide that Helena and she are the bigger threat, and they go after them, the way they dismiss Pino and Lloyd making both men frown.

They move to help after a moment though, and there’s quite the chaos for a while; when the fight ends though, the vampires all have been taken down, and the four of them are still standing, even though Helena is bleeding from a cut above her eyebrow and one in her arm, Dinah making a face at the taller woman’s injuries.

Taking note of the way Dinah is grimacing, Helena makes quick use of her healing rune, and the wounds vanish; and just when she gets done with that, her brother steps up to her and claps her on the shoulder, smirking at her, while Lloyd hangs back a bit, apparently not quite sure if he should approach her or not.

“Thanks for the help”, Pino says, “hate to admit it, but Lloyd and I were in a bit of a tight spot here. Thanks to you too, Miss Lance.”

“Call me Dinah”, Dinah tells him in response, making him smirk with what she says next, “seeing I’m dating your sister, and being called Miss Lance makes me feel old.”

“You make a good couple, obviously”, Lloyd throws in, now deciding to join the conversation after all, “and I have to say, you are quite brave, Helena sort of… terrifies me.”

Helena raises an eyebrow at that while Dinah laughs and Pino snorts; after a moment, Helena smirks as well, then lightly punches Lloyd’s arm, amusement in her voice when she replies.

“Good thing I left you at the altar then, no”, she comments, only making Pino’s grin widen, “or you would have spent the rest of your life afraid of your wife.”

“I hear that is how quite a few marriages go”, Lloyd replies solemnly, and after a moment, Helena lets out a snort of laughter; Pino looks a bit surprised at that while Dinah smiles, then they all seem to remember that they are in the middle of an attack, Helena sobering up again quickly as she moves to the nearest lifeless vampire and pulls the mask of his head.

A moment later, she freezes, and the others go wide eyed, all of them staring at the familiar features of the vampire they know to be locked up in the basement.

“Did he get out?” Lloyd asks, but Dinah shakes her head at once to that, her gaze darkening as she moves to another corpse; she pulls off the mask, and the exact same face appears, the warlock looking up at the others as they all stare.

“Copies”, Dinah says, looking up at Helena, “must be done by the warlock who juiced him up in the first place. As long as that vampire is alive and connected to him, he can make them endlessly.”

“Then we gotta kill him”, Helena decides at once, “or try to the cut the connection. The four of us, we can make it to the basement, fight our way through if we have to.”

“And we better do so quickly”, Dinah agrees, coming to her feet again, “those copies can be made endlessly, but your guys won’t be able to fight forever, not even with your fancy runes. Here, for good luck.”   


She pulls her close for a short, but tender kiss, Helena finding herself grinning like a fool when they pull apart again; then, she remembers that Pino and Lloyd are in the room with them, and clears her throat before she loads her crossbow, briskly saying “let’s go” and making the other three nod before they get moving, eager to stop this before it can get any worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo, teamwork :D


	19. Chapter 19

There’s more fighting on the way down to the cell in the basement, but the four of them do make it there, even though they all end up with various cuts and bruises; neither of them gets seriously hurt though, the three Shadowhunters not even bothering to use their runes for the time being as their injuries aren’t so bad they would have slowed them down or affected them any other way.

Still Dinah looks with concern at the blood trailing down Helena’s arm and dripping from her fingers, but she doesn’t comment on it, knowing they have no time to waste, not even the few seconds it would take the three Shadowhunters to stop and use their runes; they can still hear fighting upstairs as they make their way to the basement, more copies constantly popping up, and they want to put an end to this fast, before someone gets seriously hurt or maybe even killed.

They encounter a few more copies on the way to the cell block, dispatching of them quickly, now that they know they don’t have to keep any of them alive; and when they reach the cell, the vampire is camly lying on his cot, his head resting on his hands, a smarmy smirk on his face when he turns his head to look at them.

“Lookie here”, he then says, sitting up and grinning a fanged grin at them, “so the four of you figured it out. Or I assume the warlock did, I’m quite sure you Shadowhunter people aren’t smart enough.”

“It was a joint effort”, Dinah dryly says, and the way he licks his lips when his gaze shifts to her makes Helena’s blood boil, “and now, we’ll put an end to it. Helena, I need to get in there with him, and get my hands on him.”

“Pino, Lloyd”, Helena commands in response, both of them snapping to attention at her tone, “you help me hold him down. Use your strength rune, he’s strong.”

They both nod, and after the runes have been activated, the three of them stride into the room first, Dinah right behind them; the vampire does try to put up a fight, but doesn’t stand much of a chance against three Shadowhunters with enhanced strength, and fairly quickly, they have him secured, making sure he can’t move away when Dinah steps up to him and takes his head in both hands.

He snarls and snaps his fangs, but Dinah’s hands and arms are nowhere near his mouth, so he can’t do much more than that; ignoring his antics, Dinah closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath as she focuses,  _ reaching _ for the magic he is connected to, and finding it quickly, it might be powerful stuff, but it has not been done very subtly. 

“Got it”, she mumbles, not allowing herself to get distracted by the way Helena’s muscle bulges as she keeps the vampire from moving, “now I just have to…”

She falls silent again as she focuses, starts working her magic against the spell planted into the vampire; he soon starts to groan, then to scream, and his struggles increase again, but they hold on to him tight, not allowing him to move out of the warlock’s firm grip.

Helena can tell it is taking a toll on Dinah, she’s breathing heavier and there is sweat forming on her brow, but she doesn’t stop; she grits her teeth as she keeps working against the magic, there’s resistance, but she has power, a lot of power, and she pours it all into this, determined to get this done.

The other magic resists for a while longer, then the connection breaks as her power overwhelms it; she pulls in a sharp breath as her eyes open, and judging from how Pino gasps and Lloyd stares, she can tell at once that she has done so too soon, but she doesn’t care about their reaction, all she worries about now is Helena.

She figures the Shadowhunter knows that each warlock has a unique mark, some have horns and some have tails or gills or even scales; Dinah usually keeps hers hidden, having learned quickly it freaks people out to see someone with the completely black eyes of a bird, but Helena doesn’t seem to mind much, just looking impressed as she holds her gaze. 

Still Dinah doesn’t want to let them see it for too long, and she quickly brings the glamour back, an easy task for her after how often she has done it before; she blinks, and her eyes are back to normal, even though there are dark circles beneath them now, showing how much of a toll the magic has taken on her.

The vampire has gone limp, but they only let go of him slowly, in case this is some sort of ruse; he doesn’t move though, just slumps down onto the mattress when they let go of him fully, and Helena moves to Dinah’s side at once, putting one arm around her waist to steady her as she concernedly asks her if she’s okay.

“Fine”, Dinah reassures her, managing a wry smile, “just give me a minute or two to recharge and I’ll be good as new. That was some strong magic in that guy, but with what I’ve already found out, it’ll be easier now to find the one who’s done it.”

“Maybe wait a bit before you do that”, Helena advises, not liking how tired Dinah looks now, “come on guys, let’s go upstairs and see how the fight is going, maybe they need some help finishing those copies off.”

“Shouldn’t be any left”, Dinah points out, glad that Helena still has her arm around her even though she technically doesn’t need the support, but it does feel nice, “they all should’ve collapsed when the connection broke. But we better check to make sure.”

They all nod at that, then head out of the cell together, Helena making sure it’s properly locked so the vampire won’t make an escape after all once he’ll have recovered; already on the stairs leading back up though, they can tell the fight is over, no more shouting coming from the ground floor.

“Guess you were right”, Pino tells Dinah, making her smile a bit and nod, “they all dropped dead when you did your mojo, awesome.”

“...how this could have happened!” they can hear Franco shout just as they reach the top of the stairs, and Helena makes a face, realizing he’s just a bit down the hallway, where she won’t be able to avoid him; Dinah gives her a reassuring look though, and she tells herself she can do this, she can stand up to him again, she has done it before.

As if he has heard her thoughts, Franco turns his head to look their direction, and glares when he sees Dinah and her; for a moment, Helena feels like a ten year old again, about to be yelled at for having messed up, then she straightens and tells herself not to be stupid, she’s an adult and she can do this.

“Helena”, he says coldly, and Helena bravely holds his gaze, the way Dinah places one hand on her back giving her extra resolve, “I do believe I told you not to come back.”

“If Dinah and I hadn’t come here when the alarm sounded, you’d still be fighting those copies”, Helena points out, figuring he can’t argue with that, “and they wouldn’t have stopped coming. Dinah’s saved all of you.”

“Don’t expect to be paid”, Franco replies, his voice still cold even as his glare briefly moves to Dinah, “I think you’ve taken more than enough, working your vile magic on my daughter like this!”

Dinah raises an eyebrow at  _ that _ absurd accusation, and she can feel Helena tense next to her; but before she can say something, Helena is the one to speak up, sounding so angry it makes Pino look at her in shock, clearly, her talking to their father like this hasn’t happened many times before, perhaps never.

“Are you insane?” Helena snaps, and Franco actually looks taken aback, “she didn’t work any magic on me, what, you think she bewitched me into falling in love with her? This is crazy and you know it, all she did was give me the courage to finally be myself, and I’m glad I did. You’ve dictated my life long enough.”   


“Magic doesn’t actually work that way”, Dinah adds before Franco can say something in reply, “we can’t create feelings which aren’t there. I’m surprised you don’t know that, Franco.”

“That’s  _ Mister Bertinelli _ to you”, Franco snaps, and Helena rolls her eyes, only to get angry again at what he says next, “that you’re fucking my daughter doesn’t give you the right to disrespect me.”

Helena has moved up to him before anyone even realizes she’s started to walk, and in one swift move, grabs his collar and slams him up against the wall; several heads turn at that, but nobody makes a move to stop to her, she notes, her father staring at her wide-eyed as he clearly hasn’t expected this the slightest. 

“You do not talk to Dinah that way”, Helena presses out between grit teeth, her grip on his collar so tight he’s starting to find it hard to breathe, “ _ ever. _ You hear me?”

“Get out of my sight”, Franco manages, but not quite able to sound as stern as he usually does, Helena can tell he’s shaken up; she lets go of him and takes a step back, matching his glare with one of her own, everyone near enough to witness what is happening watching in breathless silence. 

“Gladly”, Helena says, Dinah stepping to her side at once, unimpressed when Franco glares at her, and for a moment quite tempted to truly turn him into a frog, just because she can, and perhaps to teach him a bit of a lesson about respect, “and don’t expect us to save the day again the next time the alarm blares.”   


She turns away from him and walks off, people quickly moving out of her way while Dinah hurries to remain next to her; and as they leave, they can still hear Pino say “dammit, Dad!” in a tone of annoyance, but neither of them looks back, and as they walk past their staring audience, Helena makes a point of grasping Dinah’s hand, making it quite obvious whom she chooses to anyone who is watching the scene unfold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Franco. Be nice.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexy times up ahead ;)

Once they have stepped outside, Dinah conjures up a portal, taking them both back to her apartment quickly; and the moment they are in that safe haven, Helena slumps and sits down heavily on the bed, the warlock immediately by her side, placing a calming hand on her back in a quiet reassurance she’s there.

“Sorry”, Helena finally says, looking at her, Dinah blinking in surprise as she’s not quite sure what Helena is apologizing for, “he shouldn’t have talked to you like that. No one should talk to you like that, but especially not him.”

“But you don’t have to apologize for him”, Dinah points out, the taller woman giving her a doubtful look, “you’re not the one to talked to me like that, he was. And don’t tell me he’s your father now and so it’s your responsibility, we don’t choose our parents.” 

“I still feel bad”, Helena sighs, the warlock rubbing her back in response, not quite sure how to make this better, “you’ve been nothing but helpful to them, I mean, you’ve saved my life, and all he cares about is pointing out you won’t get paid for stopping that shit with the copies. I never realized what an asshole he is.”

“Well, he’s certainly not winning father of the year”, Dinah says, glad when this makes Helena smile a bit, “but you’re nothing like him, so you have nothing to worry about. And I have to say, while I can take care of myself, it was quite… pleasant to have you jump to defend my honour like this.”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, to Dinah’s amusement blushing a bit; she gives her another smile, then pulls her in for a kiss, one which quickly deepens, the tiredness she’s felt after the magic she has used on the vampire quickly fading away as another, much more pleasant emotion starts to take over.

Helena’s hands move to her waist, and she tugs a bit at her, until she gets her to move so that she ends up straddling the taller woman’s lap; one of Dinah’s hands goes to the back of her neck and entangles in her hair, and Helena lets out a low groan, the noise only spurring Dinah on further.

She pulls back from the kiss and, with a little smirk, tucks at Helena’s shirt; immediately, Helena raises her arms in response so Dinah can pull it over her head, then hurries to get the warlock’s shirt off of her as well, the way her breath quickens at the sight of her bra making Dinah’s smile widen.

“You know”, she says, running her fingers along the other woman’s jawline, “it’s been quite a while since anyone has looked at me the way you look at me. It does something to me."

“You’re beautiful”, Helena solemnly tells her in response, colouring a bit again, but not stopping herself from continuing, “I already thought so when Harley brought me here the first time, you know.”

“And you still think so?” Dinah asks, suddenly remembering what has happened when she’s used so much of her magic, “after you’ve seen what my eyes actually look like? I know people have freaked out about it before.”

“You’re beautiful”, Helena repeats, so heartfelt that Dinah can’t doubt her for a second, “everything about you is beautiful.”

It doesn’t happen often that Dinah doesn’t know what to say, but it’s happening now, and so, she kisses Helena again instead; she feels Helena’s hands slide to her bare back so she can pull her even closer, until she’s pressed against her, and she can’t hold back a little moan of her own when after a while of rather heated making out, the Shadowhunter’s hands move to her pants and start working on her belt.

Helpfully, Dinah raises her hips so Helena can pull the pants off of her, and she’s quick to return the favour; and once they’re both down to their underwear, Dinah decides to need to get more comfortable, Helena pouting adorably when she moves off of her, only to smile a moment later as the warlock gets comfortable on the bed and raises her eyebrows at her, a clear invitation.

Helena is quick to move at that, Dinah having a moment to smile at her as the taller woman ends up on top of her, then Helena is kissing her with quite the passion again; she runs one hand up the warlock’s side to her breasts, cupping one of them through her bra, and Dinah groans into her mouth, the noise only spurring Helena on further. 

Quickly, she removes the bra, then decides she might as well be efficient and gets rid of the rest of Dinah’s underwear; her own follows suit, and Dinah smiles up at her, running both hands down her arms and over her back, her fingers leaving goosebumps in their wake.

“God, I want you so much”, Helena presses out between grit teeth, the desire in her eyes making Dinah’s stomach clench in a decidedly good way; she gives the Shadowhunter a smile, briefly amazed at how far Helena has come, from barely able to look at her to this, this confident woman who shows her desire so openly.

“I’m all yours, babe”, she says out loud, and Helena actually licks her lips, as if she’s some sort of meal; this makes Dinah laugh, and the taller woman takes a moment to smirk at her - before she lowers her head and starts making use of that tongue on her breasts, and Dinah quickly finds herself moaning, absurdly wondering if there is some sort of rune for that, because what Helena does to her feels amazing.

It only gets better when, a short while later, Helena kisses her way down her stomach to her thighs, trailing her tongue over them agonizingly slowly before she finally runs it over her folds, and Dinah groans out loud, one hand moving to entangle in the taller woman’s hair while the other tightly clings to the bedsheet.

“Yes”, she manages after Helena just has kept going for a while, and has astonished her further with what her tongue can do, she’s already proven that she has nimble fingers when they’ve done this the first time, but this is even better, “Helena, shit, so good, keep going, please…”

Helena is more than happy to fulfil her this wish, her breathless words only spurring her on further; she increases her efforts and Dinah groans again, her moans only getting louder when Helena makes use of her fingers, as well. 

Her hips lift off the mattress without her even fully aware she is doing it, but Helena easily moves with her, not stopping or slowing down for a second; and a little while later, Dinah gasps out her name as she comes, slumping back down onto the bed as she breathes heavily, needing a minute or two to regain her composure.

“Holy fuck”, she finally manages, raising her head to she can look at Helena, the taller woman still positioned between her legs, smirking up at her, and actually licking her lips again, and Dinah feels like she will die right here and now, “that was amazing. I mean… wow, Helena.”

“Couldn’t help it”, Helena says, while Dinah reaches down to grasp her arm so she can pull her up, until they are face to face again, “you taste very good you know, so I wanted more.”

“Hrngh”, Dinah lets out at that, Helena giving her a questioning look and prompting her to explain, “do you have any idea how hot that was now? You’ll be the death of me, woman, but I’ll die happy.”

“Don’t die”, Helena says at once, earning a slight smile from the warlock, “cause I want to do this again many, many more times, and I can’t if you’re dead.”

“A very good reason to stay alive”, Dinah solemnly says, then pulls her in for a kiss before she flips her so she’s on top of her, straddling her hips and smirking at her, her fingertips training down Helena’s front over her flat stomach to the hem of her boxers, her smile widening when said stomach tenses visibly at her touch.

“And now”, she says, leaning forward so she can kiss her throat, having notices before that Helena enjoys that quite a bit, “I’ll give you an equally good reason to stay alive, as well.”

“I already got one”, Helena mumbles, the warlock pulling back a bit again so she can look at her, her gaze softening at what the Shadowhunter says next, “you.”

“You’re so sweet”, Dinah sighs, then remembers what she has been about to do, and moves to kiss her again, her hands tugging at the other woman’s boxers, and a short while later, once Helena is naked, as well, Dinah makes sure to quite thoroughly show her how much she has appreciated the things Helena has done for her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexy times were had.


	21. Chapter 21

Quite a while later, they’re snuggling beneath the covers, Dinah lazily tracing patterns on Helena’s stomach with one hand; Helena in turn is playing with a few strands of her hair, happy and quite satisfied, but tired, as well, the fighting and the lovemaking now taking a toll on her.

“Hmm”, Dinah lets out, letting out a yawn afterwards, “you know, I should get some work done on that magic used on your rogue vampire, but right now, I don’t think I can focus.”

“Oh no”, Helena says, in a slightly teasing tone which makes Dinah smile, she remembers how stiff and uncomfortable Helena has been the first time they have talked and now, she’s naked in bed with her and teasing her, “I feel like that is my fault. Maybe I shouldn’t do what I did again.”

“Don’t even joke about that”, Dinah strictly says, poking her stomach and laughing when she squeals in response, “you can’t do such amazing things to me  _ one time _ and then threaten to take them away. I’ll turn you into a frog.”

“Can you actually do that?” Helena wants to know, remembering Dinah has also made a comment about turning her father into a frog, “turn someone into a frog?”

“Or a lizard, or a bug”, Dinah lets her know, and Helena is impressed, she doesn’t know much about warlocks and their magic, but she figures it takes quite a bit of skill and strength to pull this off, “depending on how badly they have annoyed me.”

“Oh wow”, Helena lets out, “let’s hope I’ll never annoy you then. I don’t want to be turned into a bug.”

“I’m fairly certain you couldn’t annoy me that much”, Dinah reassures her, laughing, and making her smile a bit as well, “I like you too much for that. Franco, on the other hand…”

“That’s Mister Bertinelli to you”, Helena imitates him, in a surprisingly deep voice, making Dinah laugh again; she pulls her in for a slow, gentle kiss, then sighs as she knows she has work to do, and sits up, very aware of Helena’s eyes on her as the blankets fall away from her body.

“Not that I don’t enjoy cuddling with you”, she says, looking over her shoulder and smiling as she can see the renewed passion in Helena’s eyes, “but I really do need to get some work done.”

“I know”, Helena sighs, sitting up as well, “I should get my daily workout done, too, I gotta stay in shape.”

Dinah nods and gets out of bed, and they both get dressed; then, the warlock leads the way, making Helena smirk by magicking up a punching bag for her in one corner of the main room of her apartment, the Shadowhunter nodding in appreciation when she asks if this will help with the workout.

“Definitely”, she then says, and starts to work on the bag; and even though Dinah has work to do, she finds herself glancing at Helena every now and then, admiring the way her muscle moves as she trains punches and kicks, despite her tries to not get distracted finding it hard to look away.

Scolding herself for her inability to keep her focus, Dinah looks at her samples again, and frowns to herself as she thinks of the magic she has countered within the vampire; now that she actually has time to think about it, Dinah realizes that there must be some sort of bigger picture they are all missing, a reason behind why someone would connect that vampire to that sort of magic.

_ Everyone knows the Institute won’t just let a random vampire run amok _ , she ponders, now not distracted by Helena anymore even though she can still hear her punch the bag,  _ and that juicing that vampire up with magic won’t help, not against Shadowhunters with their runes. But that spell to make the copies… _

“Shit”, she says out loud, and Helena pauses to look at her, with clear concern in her eyes; Dinah glances up at her, and answers the question before Helena has to ask, her words making the taller woman’s gaze darken as well.

“Whoever did this knew that you would catch that vampire”, Dinah says, deciding to not beat around the bush with this, “they planted him in the Institute, to attack from within, with the copies.”

“Shit”, Helena grumbles, “so this was the plan all along? Well then that failed, you cut the connection, didn’t you?”

“Yes”, Dinah confirms, and Helena looks relieved, but only for a moment, as Dinah continues, “but if the warlock who did that knows their stuff, they’ll also know it was another warlock who did this. And they’ll come after me.”

“Well, they’re welcome to try”, Helena says, making Dinah smile a bit at her determined tone, “I’ll kick their ass to next Sunday.”

“I appreciate the idea”, Dinah lets her know, “but you might have a hard time doing so, you know we warlocks aren’t that easy to take down. So I’ll have to find whoever is working with that vampire first, and get to them before they can get to me.”

“Okay”, Helena has to agree, not quite knowing enough about magic to have a real opinion on that, but figuring that Dinah knows what is talking about, “um… anything I can do to help?”

“Not at the moment”, Dinah tells her, and she makes a face, “this is work with pure magic, sorry. I appreciate your muscle and your runes, but they won’t help much with that.”

“Alright”, Helena says with a small sigh, for a moment feeling quite useless, but then telling herself that it’s okay, cause if that other warlock does come after Dinah, she’ll have her muscle and runes to kick their ass, “just let me know in case I can do anything?”

Dinah gives her a smile and nods, then focuses on her work again, figuring it should be easy to trace the magic back to the caster now that she knows exactly what she is looking for; she starts carefully working on it, not wanting to alert whoever is behind this to her presence, Helena watching her for a few seconds before she turns towards the punching bag again.

She’s barely managed to land two punches when she hears Dinah cry out behind her, and when she spins around, she does so just in time to see a portal open behind her, and one which the warlock clearly hasn’t opened on her own.

Everything happens very fast then, Dinah takes a step back from the portal just a man steps out of it, a vaguely skull-like black mask obscuring his face; she brings up her hands, but he’s faster, and his magic hits her before she can do anything, a pained yelp coming from her as she goes down, the blast which has slammed into her changing, forming bright red chains which wrap around her.

“No!” Helena cries out as she realizes what is about to happen; the guy barely acknowledges her, just vaguely flicking his fingers in her direction, and a moment later, it feels as if a glowing hot fist slams into her chest, and she’s thrown backwards against the punching bag before she loses her footing and goes down.

She can’t breathe, wheezing as she still struggles to get back on her feet; and she manages to get up on her knees just when the man drags Dinah into the portal and they are gone, her cry fading away unheard as the portal closes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helena, go rescue your girl!


	22. Chapter 22

Helena’s first instinct is to get to the Institute and ask for help, she knows her father won’t be happy to have her show up there again, but it’s all she can think of; and so, she calls her brother instead of going there, glad when he takes the call at once, she’s almost expected her father to tell him that he is not to have any sort of contact with her any longer.

“I need you to do something for me”, Helena says without preamble, and he lets out a vaguely agreeing noise to show he is listening, “some creep in a black mask just showed up here and grabbed Dinah, I need you to find out if we have anything on him.”

“What?!” Pino lets out, clearly shocked to hear this, “shit, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, but he took Dinah”, Helena repeats, feeling impatient, but telling herself to not snap at him, she needs his help for this, “I need to do something, now, I… Pino, I can’t lose her. I can’t.”

“I’ll get to work right away”, Pino promises her in response, “tell me everything you remember about this guy.”

She tells him everything she remembers, from the mask to the clothes he has been wearing and the red glow of his magic, compared to Dinah’s golden flashes; and once she has given him everything, Pino once more promises he’ll get started immediately, and that he’ll call her once he knows anything.

“Thank you”, Helena sighs, running a shaky hand through her hair; he reassures her he’ll be as quick as possible, and Helena lets out a vaguely agreeing noise before she ends the call, hating how helpless this makes her feel, not liking the idea that for now, all she can do is wait.

Full of restless energy, she starts to pace the room, replaying the scene over and over in her mind and cursing herself for not having acted faster, for not having done anything differently; now Dinah is God knows where, having God knows what done to her, and Helena feels like it’s her fault, despite how fast everything has happened. 

_ Renee _ , she then realizes, feeling a bit better as she at least has a vague idea what she can do instead of just waiting around for Pino to call,  _ maybe she can help, she might know this guy. _

She makes a face as she realizes she doesn’t have Renee’s number, but there has to be some way to get hold of her; and so, she figures that calling Gotham PD is a good start, and she does just that, a bored-sounding man taking her call.

“Gotham PD, how can we help you”, he drawls, not sounding as if he really wants to help her, but Helena doesn’t really care about his tone as long as he gets her connected to Renee.

“I need to speak to Renee Montoya, please”, she says, forcing herself to sound polite despite how upset she is, “tell her it’s Helena Bertinelli and that it’s urgent.”

“One moment please”, he says, and some sort of dreadful music starts to play as he puts her on hold; Helena forces herself to take in a deep breath, telling herself to remain calm, but with each second ticking by, she feels more nervous and uneasy, and by the time the call is finally picked up again, she feels like slamming her fist against the wall in frustration.

“Montoya”, Renee’s voice finally comes through the phone, and Helena has to hold back a sigh of relief; she needs a moment before she can say something, but when she does, her voice is steady, showing nothing about how upset she is.

“It’s me, Helena Bertinelli”, she says, just in case bored phone guy hasn’t bothered to tell Renee who is calling, “I need your help.”

“What is it?” Renee asks at once, to her relief not wasting any time and getting straight to the point; she quickly explains what has happened, and when she mentions the warlock in the black mask, she hears Renee pull in a sharp breath, quite sure that this is not a good sign.

“There’s a… person your description fits”, Renee says once Helena has finished, her careful wording reminding the Shadowhunter that Renee is surrounded by people who have no idea about her and the less mundane aspects of life in Gotham, “I’ll get back to you about that, meet me at the Institute in an hour?”

“Okay”, Helena forces herself to say, even though she’s not happy about waiting for an hour, she knows a lot of horrible things can be done to a person in one hour, but then, she doesn’t have much of a choice, “but, um, I’m not at the Institute anymore. You know Dinah Lance’s place?”

“...yeah”, Renee says after a moment, “okay, I’ll meet you there then.”

Helena gives her quiet credit for not asking, even though she can tell from the woman’s tone that she’s curious; she just agrees and ends the call, then sits down heavily on the couch, once again feeling helpless as now, all she can do is wait, for both her brother and for Renee.

All she can do is sit there, and wait, and hope that it won’t be too late by the time they will be able to do something.

* * *

“Well, well, well”, the masked man says as he slowly circles around Dinah, the warlock staring at him angrily from the cage he has put her in, like some sort of wild animal, “so you’re the warlock who has been so nasty to my poor Victor.”

“I’ll be nasty to you, too, no worries”, Dinah dryly responds, working hard to hide her fear, she already knows how powerful he is from the magic he’d used on the vampire and the ease with which he has overpowered her only confirms this, “you won’t have to feel neglected.”

“Big words, considering I got you all locked up”, he remarks, and the masks move as he smiles, creeping her out quite a bit, “and considering how easy it was for me to get you here. Honestly, I expected more of a fight from you, but then I did surprise you quite a bit, didn’t I. You and your Shadowhunter lover.”

“That Shadowhunter will help kick your ass”, Dinah promises him reply, secretly hoping that Helena is fine, she has seen the guy use magic against her and has seen her go down, “you’ve messed with the wrong warlock, buddy.”

“I guess we’ll see who will kick whose ass”, he responds, almost thoughtfully, then smiles again, and she can see the cruel glint in his eyes even with the mask, “but until then, I have other things planned. Your power is magnificent, surely you won’t mind sharing it with me?”

He lifts his hand, and bright red light streams from his palm, hitting her in the chest; and a second later, pain worse than any pain she ever has felt explodes within her, it’s so bad she can’t even scream, and she hears him laugh as he starts pulling power from her, hears him laugh and laugh until the pain gets too much and the world goes dark around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, Dinah is in trouble...


	23. Chapter 23

Renee arrives at Dinah’s apartment exactly one hour after Helena and she have spoken, and while Helena can tell she is curious about why the Shadowhunter is here, she doesn’t ask; she just drops a file onto the desk, nodding when Helena gives her a questioning look, and upon picking it up and opening it, the man in the mask stares back at her, a grainy black and white photo, but it’s clear enough to let her recognize him.

“Roman Sionis”, Renee says when Helena looks at her again, “he’s had trouble with you guys before. Even has been arrested once by your people, but apparently, he either was let go or escaped.”

“We don’t let warlocks who use their power for evil go once we’ve caught them”, Helena tells her, frowning, “so he must have escaped. That would make sense, with the copies, he might want to get revenge…”

“Copies?” Renee repeats, and Helena quickly tells her what has happened with the vampire; the detective nods along as Helena speaks, then frowns, looking at the photo again, sounding thoughtful when she speaks up once Helena has stopped talking.

“But if he is powerful enough to do that, why kidnap Dinah”, she ponders out loud, Helena shrugging helplessly in response, “it’s not like he’d need her power.”

“More revenge, maybe”, Helena replies, not really caring why he has done it in the first place, just eager to get Dinah out again, “honestly, I don’t give a fuck why he did it, I just want to get her out of there, wherever they are.”

“Right”, Renee agrees, checking her watch, “sun’s going down soon. Let me call Harley, can’t hurt to have a vampire along. I assume your people won’t be willing to help, seeing you said you’re not with them anymore.”

“My brother is working on finding out who this guy was, but we already know that”, Helena tells her, “and he’s not doing so officially, so no, my people won’t help.”

She quickly pulls out her phone as she speaks, and texts her brother, letting him know that she already knows the warlock’s name and that she has help, not revealing who is helping her though; and while she writes that text, Renee calls Harley, telling her what has happened and asking her if she’s willing to help.

“She’ll be here as fast as she can, once the sun has gone down”, Renee reveals once she has ended the call, Helena nodding, telling herself it’s not long until then, “you think you can use your fancy runes to track Dinah?”

“I can try”, Helena replies, then sighs, “but that warlock knew we would try with the vampire, and put up a spell against that. If he’s smart, he’ll have done the same thing for Dinah.”

“Try”, Renee advises, and Helena nods, pulling the stele from her pocket and exposing the tracking rune; she makes sure to stand so that she’ll only hit the wall and not break any of Dinah’s stuff, should she get thrown through the room again, then takes in a deep breath as she grabs one of Dinah’s belongings and activates the rune.

She focuses on the item in her hand and on Dinah, possibly the item wouldn’t even have been needed, but it will help; and this time, no spell throws her through the room, instead, she sees through Dinah’s eyes, feeling dizzy and in pain all at once, her breath quickening as she tries to ignore the hurt and to focus on what she is seeing.

The connection doesn’t last long, and the second it stops, the pain does, too; still Helena staggers, and Renee moves at once to support her, giving her a concerned look while the Shadowhunter takes in a few deep breaths, in an attempt to regain her composure.

“She’s in pain”, she finally manages to say, the pain has stopped, but she remembers all too well how bad it has been, “I don’t know what the Hell he did to her, but she’s in a lot of pain, shit…”

“Where is she”, Renee asks, feeling bad for Dinah and for Helena both, but knowing she has to get the woman to focus on that, “did you see anything…?”

“It looked like… a club, sort of”, Helena tells her, taking in another deep breath to keep her calm, “I think I saw a dancefloor, and a stage, and… metal bars, he… he’s got her locked up in some fucking cage!”

She slams her fist against the wall, and pain races up her arm, but she doesn’t care; Renee gives her a look of disapproval, doesn’t say anything though, just frowns as she goes to look at the file again. 

“He had a club here, before he was arrested”, she says, frown deepening, “but would he go back there? That’s kinda obvious.”

“Maybe”, Helena says with a small shrug, “but maybe he had nowhere else to go. You know where that club is?”

“Yeah, I do”, Renee confirms, still frowning, “but I don’t got a good feeling about this. Maybe we shouldn’t just--”

“No”, Helena interrupts her, and Renee falls silent, making a face, but not reprimanding her, “I don’t care if you think this is a good idea or not, and I don’t care if you’re coming or not. If you think she’s there, I’m going there, and I’m getting her out, he’s hurting her, I have to get her out of there…”

“I get that”, Renee reassures her at once, in an attempt to calm her down and to keep her from doing something rash and reckless, even though she already knows it won’t lead anywhere, “look, I don’t need to ask many questions to figure out what she means to you, but just storming in there…”

“I’m going there”, Helena replies, quickly scanning the file for the exact address of the club, “now. You can either come along or join me there later with Harley, but I’m not waiting another second.”

“Fine”, Renee sighs, “I’ll tell Harley to meet us there instead of here, I don’t want to just rush in there, but I want you to go there all on your own even less. Just give me one minute to call Harley and tell her.”

Helena manages a small nod, then goes to collect her weapons while Renee pulls out her phone and calls the vampire once more; and once Harley has been told where to meet them as soon as she can, they head out together, taking Renee’s car to the club, Helena fidgeting nervously on the seat as each minute ticking by only increases her fear and worries for Dinah and the state they might find the warlock in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Determined Helena is determined. x)


	24. Chapter 24

Renee parks the car at a safe distance from the club, she’s not sure it will help much as Sionis probably has wards up around the building to alert him to anyone who tries to enter, but it still can’t hurt; and at the corner near the entrance, Harley is waiting, leaning against the wall and chewing gum, blowing an impressively big bubble which pops just as Helena and Renee step up to her. 

“Heya”, she says, smiling as if they are not about to walk into a potentially very dangerous situation, “there you guys are, I was starting to get bored, and my gum is losing its taste.”

“How dreadful”, Renee dryly says while Helena just keeps staring at the entrance of the club, toying with her crossbow already, “good thing we’re here now. You ready?”

“Totally”, Harley says at once, grinning in excitement, “hey, that guy is evil right? So can I drain him if I get the chance? I’ve never had warlock before.”

“Maybe not ask such things right next to a Shadowhunter”, Renee advises, but Helena doesn’t seem to care much, just shrugging, her tone flat when she responds, making the cop raise her brows in surprise.

“Go ahead, I don’t give a shit”, Helena tells Harley, who claps her hands happily, “I’ll look the other way.”

“Would you look at that”, Renee comments, smirking now, “a Shadowhunter who’s willing to bend the rules. Fascinating again and again what falling in love can do.”

Helena just lets out a vague grunt, then gets moving, briskly walking towards the door; perhaps, she think to herself, using the front door isn’t the best idea, but she has no patience to find another way in, and if the Sionis guy is there, she’s confident that the three of them can take him down.

She has spent her life training after all, and has been taught how to fight vampires, werewolves, warlocks and demons; not bothering with trying to open the door subtly, Helena simply kicks it open, Renee shaking her head behind her, but once again doesn’t say anything, just following Helena as the Shadowhunter steps inside.

It’s quite dark and gloomy inside, fitting, Helena darkly things to herself, for someone who would do the things Sionis has done; and it’s very quiet, her own footsteps sounding way too loud to her ears, but she figures there’s no use anymore in using the rune to silence herself, not after how she has kicked the door open.

She fights down the urge to call out for Dinah, Sionis might know they are here now, but there is no need to make their exact location obvious; and as it is, Helena doesn’t need to call out anyway, as she steps into what she assumes has been the main area of the club when it still has been open and used as an actual club, and right there in the middle of the room the cage is standing, Dinah sitting with her back against the bars, looking tired, but managing a smile when she spots Helena, Renee and Harley.

Helena immediately breaks into a jog, rushing to the cage; she takes one look at the lock and at the bars, then grumbles to herself, Dinah watching how she pulls her stele from her pockets and uses it on the rune on the inside of her biceps, Renee and Harley staying a few steps behind as they have no idea what Helena is about to do.

Helena takes a moment to put the stele away again, then grabs the cage’s door with both hands - and just yanks it off the hinges, the metallic shriek making Renee grimace while Harley looks quite impressed, Dinah managing to raise her brows and to give a little smirk despite her obvious drained state while Helena carelessly tosses the cage door aside.

“I was about to say I don’t know where the key is”, Dinah mumbles, managing another weak smile when Helena steps up to her and carefully picks her up on her arms, she has no idea if this is still the enhanced strength from the rune or if Helena is just that strong all on her own, “but I guess that works, as well.”

“Where’s Sionis?” Renee wants to know, looking around as if he might magically appear out of nowhere, not unrealistic with a warlock, they all know; Dinah shrugs, wrapping both arms around Helena to steady herself as the Shadowhunter comes to her feet, not worried that Helena might drop her, but it’s still more comfortable that way.

“I don’t know”, she says as Helena steps out of the cage, glancing around as well, “he left a while ago, but he wasn’t kind enough to mention where he is going.”

“That all seems a bit too easy”, Renee says, sceptical, shrugging when Helena glares at her, “what? You know it’s true, he uses the club he’s owned before he got into trouble with you guys, he locks her up right in the middle of the room and there’s no guard and nothing? Even though he knows you’re dating a Shadowhunter?”

“If this is some sort of trap, it’s either not working, or it’s gonna snap shut any moment”, Helena tells her, already walking towards the exit, Harley looking a bit disappointed as she trails along, probably because she won’t get to drain an evil warlock, “either way, if it’s nothing, lucky us. You gonna drive us home… to Dinah’s place?”

“Sure”, Renee shrugs, still looking around, but the club stays quiet and dark around them, and nobody jumps out at them in an attempt to stop them as they reach the door; they leave with no trouble, and even though Renee still feels like this has been too easy, she decides to go with it for now, telling herself that perhaps, they can have an easy way out for once, instead of needing to fight and get in danger.

They all make their way to her car with no trouble, to Helena’s clear relief; Dinah is still awake in her arms, but looks as if she might drift off into sleep any second, and Helena wants to get her to the safety of her home as fast as possible.

Harley takes her leave once they are at Renee’s car, asking to be informed in case they go after Sionis again so she can finally get to drink warlock; Dinah raises an eyebrow at this, but makes no comment, yawning heartily as Helena carefully moves her onto the backseat of Renee’s car, then sits next to her, while Renee herself gets behind the steering wheel.

Dinah immediately cuddles up to the taller woman, yawning again; for a moment, Helena feels a bit uncomfortable, showing affection in front of Renee, then reminds herself that she has kissed Dinah right in front of  _ everyone  _ at the Institute, and puts one arm around her, a small, content sigh coming from the warlock as she rests her head on Helena’s shoulder.

“Stay awake a bit longer?” Helena mumbles, Dinah letting out a vaguely agreeing noise in response, “you can sleep all you want once we’re back at your place.”

“Okay”, Dinah sleepily responds, forcing herself to keep her eyes open; thankfully, it’s not that far, and a short while later, Renee parks in front of her building, Helena thanking her for the ride and promising her to keep her updated before she gets out of the car, Dinah shaking her head when Helena asks if she wants her to carry her upstairs.

“I’m good”, she says, even though she wouldn’t have minded being carried around a bit more, and for a moment, Helena looks disappointed, “just tired, not badly hurt.”

“Okay”, Helena figures Dinah knows her own body well enough to decide this, putting one arm around her waist anyway though, just in case; this earns her a tired smile from the warlock, and she smiles back at her, then they make their way to her apartment together, Helena immediately guiding her to the bedroom.

“Get some rest”, the Shadowhunter advises, earning a nod from Dinah, “I’ll be right here in case you need anything, alright?”

“Stay with me?” Dinah asks, giving her a pleading look she can’t and doesn’t want to resist, “I know you’re probably not tired but…”

Helena just shrugs, then smiles and moves to lie down beside her, she truly isn’t tired, but she doesn’t care, she’ll be content to just lie here and hold Dinah close, and that is what she does, rubbing the warlock’s back soothingly as Dinah drifts off into sleep, getting the rest she needs to recover. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cuddles. <3


	25. Chapter 25

Helena hasn’t felt tired when she has laid down to snuggle Dinah, but she must have fallen asleep at some point, because her phone wakes her up as it blares in her pocket; it’s not the alarm, at least, but it is a call, and she blinks as she forces her eyes open, for a moment disoriented and not quite sure what is going on.

“We  _ gotta _ find you other tones for your phone”, Dinah grumbles into her shoulder, refusing to lift her head; Helena mumbles an apology as she pulls out her phone, a quick glance at the display showing her it’s her brother calling, and she frowns, wondering what he might want - it can’t be info about Sionis, she reasons, as she has let him know that they have found out who’d attacked them.

“My brother”, she tells Dinah, then takes the call, and before he even says anything, she can hear the sound of fighting in the background, immediately going tense, Dinah taking note of this at once and raising her head after all to look at her. 

“It’s the vampire again!” Pino is shouting, struggling to make himself heard, “the copies, they are popping up everywhere again, we need you and Dinah here,  _ now _ !”

He’s loud enough that Dinah has heard him too, and even though she knows that the magic Sionis has taken from her hasn’t recharged fully, she sits up and gets out of bed, shrugging at the look Helena shoots her.

“You heard him”, the warlock says before Helena has the chance to protest, “I have no idea how this has happened, I cut the connection, but he must have rebuilt it somehow, and you’ll need a warlock to take care of this.”

“Fine”, Helena sighs, knowing Dinah is right, and figuring there’s not enough time to find another warlock, not if copies are popping up again all over the Institute, “but promise me you won’t overdo it.”

“Promise”, Dinah tells her, and Helena takes a moment to tell her brother they’ll be there as fast as possible; Dinah leans in for a brief, but gentle kiss, then conjures up a portal, shrugging when this earns her another  _ look  _ from the Shadowhunter, even though Helena’s obvious concern for her touches her.

“As fast as possible”, she still reminds the taller woman, “and this doesn’t take much energy, no worries, I’ve done it a million times. Ready?”

Helena sighs, then nods, grabbing her crossbow; Dinah smiles and holds her hand out to her, and Helena takes it at once, the two of them stepping into the portal together, travelling right to the Institute’s doorstep in the blink of an eye.

“Stay behind me for now, alright”, Helena says as they approach the door, with another worried look at the warlock, “I know you can look out for yourself, but you are still weakened from whatever it was that asshole did to you.”

“Took some of my power”, Dinah tells her, smiling as Helena loads her crossbow with fast, practiced moves, “but don’t worry, I recharge quickly. I promise you I’m fine.”

Helena looks doubtful, but nods, she has felt the pain Dinah has been in when tracking her, and she’s not sure it’s possible to recover so fast from something like that; on the other hand, she tells herself as she strides towards the entrance, she doesn’t know much about magic works for warlocks, and certainly Dinah knows what she is talking about, so she’ll just trust her.

Just like the last time they’ve been here, there’s chaos, Shadowhunters fighting identical vampires everywhere; this time, they’re not even bothering to wear masks, and it’s a bit disconcerting to see the same face replicated so often, but both Helena and Dinah ignore this as they hurry through the chaos, towards the basement stairs, figuring it will be resolved quickly by Dinah cutting the connection once more, both of them remembering how the copies have dropped dead the last time the warlock has done so.

There’s three of them at the door leading to the basement stairs, probably to keep anyone from getting at their source; Helena takes one of them down from afar with a well-aimed bolt, then draws her sword, a quick swing decapitating another one, the third one managing to land a hit though, Helena letting out a grunt as his fist smashes into her face and she both feels and hears her nose break.

She retaliates quickly, running the copy through with her sword and cutting off his head too a moment later, for good measure; Dinah grimaces at the blood streaming down the taller woman’s face, but Helena is undeterred, ignoring the pain and the blood as she strides down the stairs.

Dinah is right behind her, glad that there seem to be no more copies around; she wonders if there might be more of them guarding the cell, the hallway is empty though, and a moment later, both Helena and she falter, the Shadowhunter stopping to glance at her before she looks into the cell again.

The cell, which is just as empty as the hallway, with the vampire gone, no trace that he ever has been there remaining.

* * *

“What the Hell”, Helena is the first one to speak, turning to look at Dinah in disbelief, “where the fuck did he go? How could he have gotten out?! No one gets out of those cells!”

“He did, apparently”, Dinah says, frowning as she looks from the empty cell to Helena again, “probably with some help from our creepy masked friend, he did comment on how I had been nasty to his poor Victor before he took some of my power. Babe, can you use your rune please, it makes me nervous to see you bleed all over the place from your poor nose.”

“What?” Helena says, blinking, not having expected this change of topic, “okay, I can? But this is not very bad, you know, it barely hurts.”

“That might be so”, Dinah tells her, stepping closer to her and gently cupping her face, “but I hate seeing you hurt, Sweetheart.”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, the warlock smiling a bit at the momentary surprise on her face, “right. Just a minute.”

She quickly makes use of the healing rune, wincing when there’s an audible crack as the bone heals; then, she takes a moment to wipe off the blood before she looks at the empty cell again, still finding it hard to believe that the imprisoned vampire has somehow managed to escape.

“Damn”, she lets out, realizing they have no idea what to do now, certainly, Sionis has blocked them from tracking the vampire again, “we won’t find him with my tracking rune, and if Sionis isn’t a complete idiot, he’ll also block you from tracking the vampire with magic.”

“I know”, Dinah has to agree, frowning as she doesn’t like this one bit, only to brighten up again when a thought hits her, and she quickly goes on, Helena looking a bit less worried as well when she explains.

“We should call Renee, and Harley”, Dinah suggests, “I still got samples from the original vampire at home, perhaps they can help with the scent. That might make it possible to find him.”

“Good thinking”, Helena nods, “okay, let’s go. Portal?”

“Portal”, Dinah agrees, smiling at how fast Helena is getting used to that mode of transportation, “let’s get outside, quickly.”

Helena nods her agreement, and they hurry outside together; she hears her father call out to her, but decides to ignore him, taking care of the source of the copies is more important now than her father’s disapproval, and even though she can hear the anger in his voice when he calls out her name again, she doesn’t look back, the portal Dinah conjures up once they are back outside snapping close behind them before he has a chance to follow them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> XD I'd ignore Papa Bertinelli too in Helena's place.


	26. Chapter 26

Renee and Harley quickly agree to help, and they all meet at Dinah’s apartment; Dinah hands them the hair she’s taken from the rogue vampire, and Harley pockets one while Renee sniffs the one she’s been given, making a face, but nodding when Dinah asks if she can work with this.

“Pretty strong scent, considering it’s hair”, she then says, pocketing the hair just in case, “let me get this to my people, we’ll get to work right away. You want us to take him to the Institute, in case we find him?”

“No”, Helena replies at once, to the obvious surprise of both Renee and Harley, but neither of them says anything, “secure him wherever you find him and call us. He’s escaped from the Institute once, no use in bringing him back there.”

“Gotcha”, Harley says, Renee nodding as well after a moment; they all exchange numbers so they can stay in contact, then Renee and Harley head out, Helena feeling a bit useless for a moment as she has no idea how she can help actually find the vampire, knowing her tracking rune won’t work.

“The club”, Dinah says out of nowhere, Helena looking at her in confusion and prompting her to elaborate, “the club where Sionis took me? We might find something there, something we can use to track him. The vampire is connected to him, so if we find him and stop him, the copies will vanish, as well.”

“Yeah, worth a try”, Helena agrees after a moment, figuring that, even if it leads nowhere, it’s still better than just waiting around for someone else to get the job done, “but are you sure you should do this? Are you… I don’t know, recharged enough?”

“I’m fine”, Dinah reassures her at once, “he didn’t take nearly enough to cause serious damage. We shouldn’t portal there though, or at least not too near it, he might have wards up against it.”

“Damn, my bike is at the Institute”, Helena realizes, making a face; Dinah looks a bit unhappy as well, apparently having been looking forward to another ride with the Shadowhunter, but now is not the time to point this out, and she knows it.

“I’ll portal us to a safe distance then”, she says instead of grousing about the lack of bike riding, “a block away or so, that should do. You ready?”

Helena nods, making sure her crossbow is secured to her back so she can easily reach it; Dinah conjures up another portal, and they step through, and when they end up on the sidewalk near Sionis’ former club, Helena is fairly certain she sees a flash of black take over Dinah’s eyes, but she doesn’t question it, figuring Dinah knows what she is talking about when she says she is fine.

“Alright”, Dinah says, glancing around, glad that nobody seems to take much note of their appearance, but then, this is Gotham, and a certain degree of weirdness is nothing new to the people living here, “we gotta be careful, he’s strong all on his own, even without taking magic from me.”

“I’m ready”, Helena reassures her, after having made sure her crossbow is at easy reach once more and that her stele can be reached just as quickly; Dinah nods, then grasps her hand and pulls her in for a kiss, eyes sparkling when they pull apart again.

“We make it through this”, she says, Helena smiling a bit, “and I’ll take you to Tokyo, to one of the best hotel rooms you have ever seen, and the best sushi place in town. I do remember you said you wanted to try that.”

“I’ll hold you to that”, Helena tells her, making her smile as well and nod; they share another brief, but gentle kiss, then get walking, Helena pushing all thoughts of nice hotel rooms and sushi in Japan out of her mind as she focuses on the task ahead.

She’s not sure there actually will be any fighting, but she wants to be ready in case there is, she’s been trained to fight since she has been able to walk and that training makes it easy for her to focus fully on the situation at hand and not let anything distract her.

The door is still precariously hanging on the hinges from when she’s kicked it open, Helena sees at once, but miraculously, no one has gone into the club to steal everything they can get their hands on; this might be a sign of the wards which have been put on it, she figures, perhaps either scaring people off or maybe even keeping them from seeing the door is actually open, she knows that magic often works better on regular people than it does on Shadowhunters and warlocks.

“Looks like he hasn’t been around to make repairs”, Dinah observes, keeping her voice low; Helena nods, then realizing that this time, she can use the rune to move soundlessly, as there is no need to kick the door down again, and she pulls her stele from her pocket, activating the rune as she asks Dinah if she has a spell for that, too.

“Sure do”, Dinah reassures her, and there’s a brief flash of golden light; and just like that, they both move soundlessly, entering the club and glancing around, Helena having her hand near her crossbow now, just in case, even though the club is dark and quiet.

Dinah grimaces when she sees the cage, moves past it though after a moment without another look at it; Helena is straining her ears for any sort of noise as she follows her, still glancing around in an attempt to have her eyes everywhere at once, not wanting to miss anything.

“Back there”, Dinah whispers, making Helena look at her, then at the door she is gesturing at, “see that square shape where the wood is lighter than all around it? There’s been some sign on it, I bet it said  _ Private _ , maybe we can find something there Sionis used often enough to let us track him.”

Helena nods, impressed that Dinah has spotted that before her, usually, whenever she has been out and about with Shadowhunters, she has been the most perceptive one; she’s content with following Dinah though, just glad that one of them has spotted this and that it might lead them to something they can use to find Sionis and stop him before the copies do more damage than what they already have caused.

Dinah pushes the door open, and it does turn out to be what Helena assumes has been Sionis’ office when the club has been in business; everything is covered in dust and there are cobwebs everywhere, except for a white square on the desk which catches her eye, as it looks as if it has been placed there a short while ago.

She picks it up while Dinah looks around for something useful and, after looking at it for a few seconds, pockets it; then, she turns towards Dinah, the warlock bent over what appears to be a sort of trunk, and for a moment, Helena loses her focus as the tight pants give her a  _ very  _ good view of the other woman’s backside.

“Look here”, Dinah says, and Helena snaps to attention, even though her cheeks heat up, something Dinah thankfully doesn’t comment on as she turns to face her again, “gloves, I assume he wore them. Worth a try, at least.”

“Can I do anything to help?” Helena wants to know, a bit dismayed when Dinah shakes her head; and so, she can only watch how Dinah takes hold of the gloves and focuses, golden light pulsing from her fingers and flowing into the leather, getting brighter after a few seconds, until it shines so bright that Helena has to squint.

“Got something”, Dinah says as the light slowly is dying down again, “he’s… moving. Damn, we could really use a ride now, I don’t want to portal after him, that might take more power than I want to spend, if we have to fight him.”

“I’ll get us a ride”, Helena tells her, earning a raised eyebrow, “perhaps not in a perfectly legal way, but I’ll get us one. Don’t rat me out to Montoya.”

“I would never”, Dinah sincerely says, and Helena gives her a brief smile before they leave the room together and head out of the club, once again not encountering anybody, making Helena wonder if Sionis actually still uses it or if he’s already had the cage when he’d grabbed Dinah and that this has been the only reason he’d brought her here.

She glances left and right as they step outside, making sure nobody is watching them, then walks to the nearest car; a quick use of a rune meant to unlock things opens the car door for her, and once both Dinah and she have gotten into it, Dinah stops her from using the wires to start it, bringing the engine to life with magic instead, grinning at her as she then leans back in the seat.

“See, now I’m your accomplice”, she says, Helena finding herself smiling as well, her smile only widening when Dinah continues, “we’re in this together.”

“Yeah”, Helena agrees,gaze softening as her eyes meet Dinah’s, “we are.”

Dinah smiles, aware that these words weigh heavier than they seem; she leans over for a brief kiss, then Helena starts driving as Dinah guides her, keeping her focus on the magic tracking Sionis, both of them determined to find him and stop him once and for all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Togetherness :) :D


	27. Chapter 27

While Dinah guides Helena through town in the search for Sionis, she calls Renee and Harley, alerting them that they are after him, but that he is moving; she promises to keep them updated, then focuses on giving Helena directions again, thankful that her magic has recharged enough so that keeping up the connection doesn’t take much of a toll on her.

“He might know we’re coming”, she adds after having told Helena to turn left, “if he knows you got me out so quickly. If he doesn’t know, he might not be aware, we might be able to surprise him.”

“Let’s hope he has no idea then”, Helena says, turning right when Dinah tells her to, “this will be much easier if he has no idea we’re coming.”

“Agreed”, Dinah nods at once, then frowns, “but shit, where is he going? It feels like he’s heading to the harbour, what does he want there?”

“Get on a boat with his vampire boyfriend and ride off into the sunset?” Helena guesses, making the warlock smile a bit, “he knows we’re after him, after what you’ve done and after how we’ve arrested his buddy. We better make sure to arrive there in time to stop him.”

She steps down on the gas pedal, and speeds up, Dinah hurrying to keep giving her directions; and as it turns out, she’s right, as they are soon on the road leading to the harbour, and she quickly pulls out her phone, sending a quick text to both Harley and Renee to update them on the status of their tracking.

“Almost there”, Helena says just as Dinah gets done with that; she parks the car at a safe distance from the harbour’s main area, and they both get out of it, Dinah focusing on the connection again as she starts walking, Helena right next to her, glancing around as she has good reason to worry that a vampire copy might jump out at them any moment.

The area around them remains quiet though, and no vampires come jumping out, copies or otherwise; Dinah slows down after a while, raising her hand to keep Helena from saying anything, then nods up ahead, where Sionis is leaning against a luxurious car, the vampire next to him, both of them looking as if they are waiting for something, an impression strengthened by how Sionis checks his watch and looks impatient.

“Wait”, Helena mumbles, making sure to keep her voice low, Dinah giving her a curious look, she already had magic readied to blast them both before they even realize Helena and she are there, “I want to see whom he meets with. Might be helpful, or someone else we can arrest.”

Dinah nods her agreement to that, figuring it makes sense, even though she’s not sure the Institute will take anyone arrested by Helena; on the other hand, she darkly thinks to herself, they just make and claim all the credit, she has worked with them before and wouldn’t put it past them. 

She still decides to do this Helena’s way, making sure they are out of sight; she hears the vampire complain that “he is being late”, Sionis’ tone too low to let her make out any words when he answers; whatever he says seems to calm the vampire though, as he doesn’t complain further, just sulking as he leans against the car.

The noise of an engine distracts her from her observations, a sleek black car pulling up a minute later; Dinah immediately recognizes it as an Institute car, and one quick glance at Helena tells her that she does, too, and she reaches over, placing a calming hand on her back.

She can feel her tense at once when the car stops and the driver climbs out, and Dinah can’t blame her, she figures she would have gone tense too, had it been her father climbing out of the car.

“Mister Bertinelli”, they hear Sionis say, only confirming what they both already know, “you’re late.”

“You can be happy I showed up at all”, Franco snaps in reply, a tone Helena knows all too well, “you didn’t keep up your end of the bargain.”

“But I did”, Sionis responds at once, and Helena is clenching her jaw so tightly that Dinah worries for her teeth, “I took the warlock. And I tried the spell on your daughter. I warned you it might not work.”

“She freed the warlock, you imbecile”, Franco snarls, “and your stupid spell did not work. I risked my people getting hurt for nothing, I have reached nothing, while you have your vampire back!”

“I told you it might not work”, Sionis repeats, in a patient tone now, “you wanted me to try. I did. It did not work. And you have to admit, having the copies attack you guys will make sure nobody will ever suspect a thing about your involvement in this.”

“People will find out about it”, Helena chooses this moment to make her presence known, straightening up and, in one fluid movement, aiming the crossbow, not at Sionis or the vampire, Dinah notes, but at her father, “are you serious,  _ father _ ? You’ve worked with him?”

“For a while”, Sionis casually reveals, a bit smug now, clearly enjoying the drama he is causing, “shortly after you’ve captured Victor, to be precise. Too bad the secret is out now. You’re aware he wanted me to blast away your feelings for my lovely colleague?”

“I did it for you, for the family”, Franco tries to explain himself when Helena sets her jaw again, “to get you back onto the right track.”

“Touching”, Sionis comments when Helena doesn’t say anything, “but this is starting to bore me. Victor. Kill them all.”

He raises one hand, and the vampire multiplies, copies popping up out of thin air all around them; they quickly are surrounded, but Helena doesn’t let this deter her, she aims at the first one she sees and fires, the bolt hits the copy in the neck and it vanishes, only to be immediately replaced by another one.

“Helena”, Dinah hisses under her breath, so they won’t hear, “I need to get at Sionis, to break the connection again, or we need to kill the original vampire. They’ll just keep coming otherwise.”

“Alright”, Helena says, sheathing her crossbow and pulling her sword instead, figuring that using bolts would be a waste, and by now, the copies has moved so that they are blocking both Sionis and his vampire friend; a few remain where they are to protect them, but others charge at Dinah and her, snarling and spitting as they rush at them.

At least, Helena reasons as they fight, they go down fast, one cut with her sword is enough to make them dissolve and Dinah is blasting them with her magic just as effectively; just as Dinah has predicted though, they keep on coming, not giving them a chance to get near Sionis or the original vampire.

“Damn”, Helena grumbles when one of them falls and is immediately replaced, “they’re keeping us rooted here, we have to find some way to--”

She is interrupted by a loud growl, then a massive, shaggy wolf jumps among the copies and starts tearing into them left and right; and a moment later, there’s blurry movement from her right, and then Harley stands there, grinning at them before she nods at Sionis.

“Need a ride?” she then asks, turning so she can present her back to Dinah, “I can zip you over there with vamp speed, no problem.”

“Alright”, Dinah agrees, hopping onto Harley’s back, “but don’t trip, I don’t want to break my neck.”

“Course not”, Harley replies, then blurs as she moves with the warlock on her back; figuring that Dinah will do her thing and can look after herself, Helena takes down another copy, and so does the wolf, the two of them ending up back to back now as they fight, eager to keep the copies busy until Dinah manages to break the connection once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, Franco. Making a mess.


	28. Chapter 28

As she fights the copies with Harley and the werewolf, Helena sees flashes of magic from the corner of her eye as Dinah and Sionis fight; she knows the golden ones to be from Dinah and the red ones to be causes by Sionis, and there is much more gold than red, so she figures it is a good sign.

She’s too busy to keep herself from being overwhelmed to look much at what Dinah is doing, the copies keep coming, no matter how many they take down; Helena is glad that she’s in good shape, but she knows she can’t keep this up forever, and with the endless flood of angry copies out to get their teeth into her neck, she has no time to get her stele and activate the runes which help her in combat.

A few of the copies have landed hits despite her best efforts, and she’s bleeding from a few cuts on her arms and face, nothing serious, but the smell of blood only makes the copies angrier; and so, Helena keeps fighting, stabbing and slashing, refusing to back down even as they keep coming endlessly.

Then, there is a flash of golden light so bright she momentarily has to squint, and she can hear male voices scream; and from one moment to the next, the copies are dropping dead, her sword slicing through thin air as she has been mid-swing when whatever it has been has happened.

Glad that Dinah has managed to stop the connection once again, Helena smiles as she lowers her sword and turns to face the warlock; and a second later, her smile is gone as she gets a good look at the scene, her blood running cold from one moment to the next.

Sionis and Victor are motionless on the ground, but so is Dinah, lying flat on her back a few feet away, and she’s not moving.

She’s not even  _ breathing _ , Helena realizes with growing panic; she drops her swords and runs to her side, falls to her knees next to her, frantic for a moment as she checks for a pulse, her panic only growing when she can’t find one.

“No, no, no”, she hears someone say, belatedly realizing it’s her own voice, “Dinah, no, come on. Come on…”

She takes a moment for a deep breath in an attempt to keep the little bit of self-control she has left; and then, she tells herself what she has to do, her arms ache after the fighting, but she doesn’t let this stop her as she starts with chest compressions, she’s been taught how to do this years ago, but the memories how to do it come flooding back quickly.

“Come on”, she says again as she keeps going, rhythmically pushing down onto Dinah’s chest, “come on, come back to me. Sushi in Japan, remember?”

She stops the chest compressions and switches to mouth to mouth, breathing into her,  _ for _ her; and after that, she goes back to pushing down, barely registering how Renee comes hurrying over and kneels down next to her.

The cop doesn’t bother asking what was happened, just offers Helena to take over; Helena shakes her head though, not even looking at her as she keeps the CPR going, her sight blurring when Dinah remains still and lifeless.

“Come on”, she says again, blinking rapidly to hold back the tears, “come on, don’t do this to me. You can’t leave me, come on…”

Helena bends over Dinah again to breathe for her once more, Renee looking nervous as she wrings her hands, clearly wanting to help, but not wanting to risk Helena’s wrath; again there is no change, and Helena goes back to the chest compressions for the third time, refusing to give up, she’ll keep this up for hours if she has to, even use her runes once the burning in her muscle might become too bad to ignore.

“Dinah, please”, she manages, breathing heavier at this point, all of it taking a toll on her, “don’t leave me, come on, please. Please.”

She pushes down again, and suddenly, Dinah draws in a heavy gasp, her eyes flying open; she lets out a strangled sort of choking noise, and Renee is the one who realizes what is happening, shouldering Helena aside somewhat harshly so she can roll Dinah over, just in time too as the warlock throws up a second later.

“There, there”, Renee says, of all things, while Helena can only stare for a few moments; Dinah coughs and rolls onto her back again, and that snaps Helena out of her stupor, Dinah coughing again when she finds herself pulled up and held tightly against the taller woman’s chest.

“Woman, don’t squish her”, Renee admonishes, but Helena barely registers what she is saying; she just holds Dinah close, and breathes in her scent, and can feel her breath on her skin, and slowly, the panic is subsiding.

“Hey”, Dinah manages as she feels Helena shudder against her, “Sweetheart. I’m fine.”

Helena nods without saying anything, but keeps holding her tight, and it takes quite a while until she finally can let go.

* * *

Quite some time later, Dinah is sitting with her back against Sionis’ car, drinking water from a bottle Harley has found God knows where; Helena is hunkering next to her, not having left her out of her sight since she has woken up again, and Renee is checking on Sionis and his vampire friend, not surprised at what she finds.

They’re both dead, whatever Dinah has done has been very effective; she can see that blood has trickled from Sionis’ eyes, ears and nose at the moment of his death, Renee figuring that, whatever Dinah has done has severely damaged his brain, enough to kill him quickly, and she’s not sure if his vampire friend has been collateral damage or has gone down when the warlock he has been so connected to has died.

“Well, he’s a goner”, Renee shares her findings with the others, Harley looking disappointed as once again, she hasn’t been able to drink warlock, “and so is his vamp buddy. Guess that case has been officially solved. Bertinelli, you better take your girl home now, she looks quite done.”

Helena nods and moves to pick Dinah up on her arms, the warlock once again wrapping both arms around her; this time though, Helena is glad she doesn’t have to carry her far, her arms are tired already from the fighting and the CPR, and she knows she’ll feel all of that even more in the next day.

Still she’d rather risk sore muscles than let Dinah walk on her own, and so, she carries her to the car; she carefully puts her onto the backseat and promises her she’ll hurry, Dinah letting out a vaguely agreeing noise in reply, struggling to keep her eyes open now.

“Don’t go to sleep yet”, Helena advises as she gets into the driver’s seat, this time using the wires after all as Dinah’s magic isn’t an option, “hang around a little longer, alright?”

“Trying”, Dinah mumbles, then manages a slight smile, “but stop worrying. I’ll be good as new soon.”

“You were kinda dead”, Helena points out, keeping her gaze on the road now though, the last thing they need now is a car crash, “so I can’t help but be worried.”

“And you brought me back”, Dinah reminds her, making her smile a bit, “believe me, warlocks are hard to kill. I’ll be fine.”

“You better be”, Helena says, now risking a glance at her, but still smiling a bit, “I still want that sushi in Japan.”

Dinah lets out a small laugh at that, then nods as she gets comfortable again; Helena focuses on driving again, and gets them back safely to Dinah’s apartment, once again carrying the warlock after having parked the car and taking her straight to the bedroom, somewhat strictly telling her that she should get some rest now.

“I will, I will”, Dinah reassures her, “but will you stay with me? For cuddles?”

“Sure”, Helena says at once, and moves to lie down beside her; and a short while later, both of them are fast asleep, getting the rest they both need after all the trouble they have been through. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I not nice, putting drama AND the resolution in the same chapter XD


	29. Chapter 29

In the next morning, Dinah is the first to wake up, and she feels refreshed and good; she takes a moment to focus on her magic, and is relieved that it’s fully recharged, she has overdone it quite a bit the previous day, but clearly, there are no lasting effects.

Helena is still fast asleep next to her, Dinah then realizes, even snoring quietly; obviously, all the fighting has had more of an effect on her than she has shown the previous evening, and Dinah figures that the emotional turmoil has taken a toll, as well, glad that they are both fine now though, figuring that Helena will use her healing rune once she wakes up and take care of the cuts she’s taken during the fight.

For the moment, she decides to let her sleep, carefully getting out of bed so she won’t wake her; making sure to be quiet, Dinah moves to the bathroom, she could just have gotten clean with magic, but feels the need for a proper shower, she feels sore from the previous evening and figures that the warm water will help with that.

To her relief, it does, and she feels better by the time she dries off, wraps herself up in a towel and walks back to the bedroom; and there, she finds Helena sitting on the bed, toying with a small square of paper, the Shadowhunter looking up at her though when she steps into the room.

“Hey, good morning”, Dinah greets her with a bright smile, her obvious and fast recovery making Helena smile as well, “watcha got there?”

“One of my father’s business cards”, Helena lets her know, holding it out to her so she can take a look at it, and Dinah finds herself vaguely amused that it says “Franco Bertinelli - Head of Gotham Institute”, as if they hand out those cards like candy to anyone, when keeping the secret of the city’s supernatural side is one of the biggest tasks the Institute has, “found that at Sionis’ club. That would be good evidence already, but after what we have heard him say to Sionis… Shit, I can’t believe he did that.”

“They’ll end up de-runing him, won’t they”, Dinah says, making Helena nod at once, she might have gone against unwritten rules when she has begun dating Dinah, but what her father has done is much, much worse, and she knows it will have dire consequences, but she can’t find it within herself to feel sorry for him.

“After all the shit he always told Pino and me”, she says, glad that she has given the business card to Dinah now as she would have crumpled it up in rage otherwise, “about how warlocks can’t be trusted and are all working for their own gain, he works with one for something like this! To have you captured and have him  _ blast away _ my feelings? What an asshole, God.”

“Hey”, Dinah says, putting the business card aside and sitting down next to her so she can rub her back soothingly, “I get it that you’re angry, but please keep in mind that everything is okay now, alright? Sionis is dead, the vampire is dead, you’re here with me, I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

“I know”, Helena reassures her, managing a weak smile; Dinah smiles back at her, then leans in for a kiss, and once they pull apart again, Helena’s smile is much brighter, the warlock grasping her hand and giving it a tender squeeze before she glances at the business card once more.

“So you want to do something about this?” she half states, half asks, already knowing the answer to that, Helena might have gone against the Institute’s ideals and wishes when she has basically run off with her, but she is still a Shadowhunter at heart, and she won’t let that slide.

“Yeah”, Helena confirms that, making the warlock nod, as she has been expecting this, “I can’t just ignore that. Not only did he endanger you, he also had that warlock attack me and he helped the vampire escape.”

“An all around mess”, Dinah comments, glad when this earns her another small smile from the taller woman, “you want to go there right away? I can pull up a portal, I’ve recovered enough for that.”

“Breakfast first”, Helena decides, to the slight relief of Dinah, she is somewhat hungry after the previous day’s excitement, but would have been willing to wait if Helena would have wanted to go right away, “he’s probably already figured out excuses and lies to cover himself, an hour won’t make a difference.”

“Alright”, Dinah agrees, “let me magic up breakfast then while you take a shower? Oh, and maybe heal those cuts, I know they’re not bad, but…”

“...but you don’t like seeing me hurt”, Helena finishes for her, making her smile and nod; Helena smiles back at her, then leans in for another kiss, feeling good and determined when she heads to the bathroom, confident that everything will work out fine for them.

* * *

When Helena and Dinah arrive at the Institute, nobody pays them much mind, all of them still busy with cleanup after the copies had attacked them once again the previous day; her brother spots her though, and hurries to her, looking worried, his concern probably caused by the dark look which has taken over Helena’s face the moment Dinah and she have stepped into the building.

“Helena”, he says as he struggles to keep up with her, she’s walking fast and with a clear goal in mind, “what’s going on? Dad just vanished yesterday after you two have left, and he’s been locked away in his office all day today, what’s happening?”

“Patience”, Dinah tells him when Helena doesn’t look as if she plans to answer him any time soon, “you’ll find out if you stick around.”

He nods at once, falling back a bit though as Helena keeps walking, straight to Franco’s office; the door is closed, and in all the years since their birth, neither Helena, nor Pino have just gone in there without knocking, but after what her father has done, Helena really can’t be bothered anymore to stick to this sort of politeness.

She simply pushes the door open, her father looking up in surprise, Dinah a bit amused at how she hears Pino gasp behind; Helena doesn’t let her brothers shock slow her down though, as she walks straight to Franco’s desk, stops next to his chair- so that she is towering over the sitting man, Dinah notes with approval - and crosses her arms over her chest, and if looks could have killed, he would have dropped dead in this very second at the glare she sends his way.

“You’re done”, Helena says, before he can say something, Pino gaping while Dinah smirks to herself, feeling oddly proud of Helena, she knows how much the man has been in control of her life and seeing her face him like this now makes the warlock feel quite warm and tingly inside, “everyone will know what you’ve done.”

“As if anybody will believe you”, Franco says after a moment, and Helena’s fists itch at the smirk he gives her, “who do you think will be seen as more trustworthy? The man who has been running this place for years, or his daughter, who ran away with a warlock? It’ll be my word against yours. You’ll lose.”

“It’s not, actually”, Dinah quips, unimpressed when he glares at her, her gaze focusing on her girlfriend, “babe, where are the most people at this time of the day?”

“Breakfast, probably”, Helena says, not sure where this is going, but she does feel dark satisfaction at how her father bristles at Dinah calling her “babe”, “why?”

“Follow me”, Dinah tells her in response, and strides out of the room in determination; Helena hurries to follow her, and after a moment Franco does, as well, snapping at them to tell him what they are thinking, a warlock can’t simply walk around here as if she owns the place.

Ignoring him, Dinah simply walks to the mess hall, where indeed quite a lot of people are sitting and eating; they all look at her when she strides right to the middle of the room though, a few whispering to each other as they know who she is, exchanging looks and frowns, but nobody makes a move to stop her.

“So you guys had a bit of trouble with vampires here lately, I hear”, Dinah starts, Helena moving to stand beside her while Franco stops a few feet away, clearly not sure what to expect, “but that has been resolved, yes?”

A few people nod, looking confused now, but they know she has been there to help with the fight, and don’t question her knowledge; and their confusion only grows when Dinah smiles, and continues, all eyes on her now. 

“What you probably don’t know”, Dinah continues after a moment, “is that none of this mess would have happened if it hadn’t been for Franco here. Oh, excuse me. Mister Bertinelli.”

“Shut up and get the Hell out of here”, Franco snaps while people start whispering again, and he starts to move towards Dinah; Helena steps in his way though, and after a moment, so does Pino, the siblings staring him down now and startling him enough to make him stop dead in his tracks.

“Let her speak”, Pino says, and Franco is even more shocked to see several people nod, “if you have nothing to worry about, she can just talk, right?”   


“Oh, I won’t talk much longer”, Dinah comments, smiling again, “cause as you said in your office,  _ Mister Bertinelli _ , it would be Helena’s word against your own. That won’t do any good. I’ll show you guys.”

She brings both hands up, and golden light flashes, and suddenly, there is a picture projected into the air, almost like in the cinema, and Helena immediately recognizes it as the scene they have witnessed the previous evening, it starts with her father arriving and getting out of his car, and the image somehow is clear enough so he can be easily recognized, along with Sionis and the vampire.

And not only can everyone see it, they can all hear it too, and the sound is as crisp and clear as the picture, the watching people looking shocked, then offended when Sionis and Franco talk about the spell the warlock had used on Helena.

“You don’t believe this, do you”, Franco sneers when the images stop and fade, “she made this up! She’s a warlock, she can’t be trusted!”

“And yet you tried to get a warlock to stop my feelings for her”, Helena quietly says, she can tell that people are believing this, as they are looking at Franco with disgust now, “and to think I looked up to you. You’re under arrest.”

She almost expects him to put up a fight, but he doesn’t, he just looks angry for another moment, then visibly deflates; and when Helena moves to handcuff him, he doesn’t resist her, and nobody moves to stop her, Pino helping her instead, the sight of Franco’s children being the ones to arrest him convincing everyone in the room fully that it’s well deserved and that the right thing is happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papa Bertinelli got pwnd.


	30. Chapter 30

“So what’s gonna happen now?” Dinah asks once Franco has been escorted to one of the cells in the basement; Helena, Pino and she have retreated to Helena’s former room, if only to escape the questioning from the other people of the Institute, they practically have been swarmed the second Franco has been out of the room, and only an angry shout from Helena has given them enough room to retreat, “he gonna get de-runed?”   


“De-runed and exiled”, Helena tells her, and Dinah would have felt bad for the man if it hadn’t been for all the horrible things he’d done, to both Helena and herself, “after a trial, of course. Um… you might have to show that memory image thing again then.”

“No problem”, Dinah reassures her with a small shrug, “the second I saw him get out of that car, I started… recording, for lack of a better work, I figured it would be useful at some point.”

“Good thinking”, Pino praises her, making her smile a bit, her smile turning into a grin when he looks at Helena next, “you got good taste sister, she’s pretty  _ and _ smart.”

“She’s amazing”, Helena solemnly says, Dinah feeling touched her tone and her words, “honestly, I’m lucky she’s with me.”

“We’re both lucky”, Dinah tells her, and Pino smiles a bit, Helena feeling touched at how genuinely happy he is for her; before she can say anything though, there’s a knock at the door, and it opens a second later, Helena tensing a bit when it’s her mother, preparing to get yelled at for what she’s done.

“Pino, give us a moment, please”, Maria says instead, keeping her gaze fixed on Helena though even as she talks to her son, “Helena, Miss Lance. A moment.”

Pino makes a face, but he does get up and leave, closing the door behind himself; Helena isn’t quite sure what to think of the fact that her mother has asked Dinah to stay, as well, but she’s not so sure anymore she’ll be yelled at, her mother always had made a point of not scolding her children in front of anyone else, always mindful of the Bertinelli name and the weight it carries.

“Stop looking so apprehensive”, Maria says after a moment, probably having wanted to make sure that Pino is not only out of the room, but also out of earshot, “I’m not here to yell at you. I know that what you did wasn’t easy for you, and I’m proud of you. I also want to apologize to you.”

“Apologize”, Helena repeats, so stunned that Dinah can’t help herself, but just has to give her a worried look, “for what?”

“For standing by all those years, and not stopping your father from making you miserable”, Maria bluntly tells her, and Helena can only blink, so far, she has been fairly certain that her father has kept all these things from her mother, as she never has been present when her father has made it clear to her what he expects of her, “I should have stopped him back then already, when it was about the girl from the New York Institute, but I didn’t. And I kept telling myself that it’s alright, that you’re happy and doing well, but I see you now, with Miss Lance, and I know that now, you are truly happy. I’m sorry we kept you from being happy for so long.”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, not sure what to respond to that, “um… it’s… okay? We both know how he is.”

“Well, he won’t be around any longer to control either of us”, Maria tells her, and while Helena so far has been sure that the marriage of her parents, while arranged, has been a good one, she’s not convinced anymore at hearing that, “and I want you to know that of course, you’re welcome to return to the Institute. Miss Lance, you of course are also welcome here any time.”

“Thank you”, Dinah says with a small smile of her own, she knows that this is a big thing, as usually, warlocks, vampires and werewolves are not very wanted at the Institutes around the world, “I appreciate it.”

“Treat my daughter well”, Maria solemnly says, and Dinah nods at once, “not that I doubt you will. I have noticed the way you look at each other.”

Helena blushes a bit at that, but still smiles; Dinah reaches over and grasps her hand, and the Shadowhunter finds herself a bit amazed when her mother smiles at the display of affection, the woman then clearing her throat and vaguely gesturing at the door afterwards.

“Well, I will give the two of you some privacy”, she says, “I imagine there will be a lot of chaos out there now, after what you have shown to everyone here. Perhaps you should stay in here for another hour or two.”

Helena nods, earning another smile from her mother before Maria leaves the room; for a moment, Helena wonders if Pino will come back now, but if he has been planning that, he’s probably stopped by their mother, as he doesn’t show up again.

“So”, Dinah says, smiling at her, “you single-handedly increased acceptance of warlocks in here, are a shining role model for other gay Shadowhunters,  _ and  _ stopped your traitorous father. How does that make you feel?”

“I didn’t do any of that alone”, Helena protests, “I did it with you. I only could do it because of you.”

“So charming”, Dinah tells her, her smile widening a bit, but Helena can tell her words have touched her, and she finds herself smiling again as well, “alright, so, we did that all together. But you didn’t answer me, how does it make you feel?”

“Good”, Helena simply says, perhaps, she ponders, she shouldn’t be feeling good about being the one who has caused her father’s downfall, but then, he deserves it, after all the things he has done, “it makes me feel good. And happy. I’m very happy right now.”

“Glad to hear”, Dinah lets her know, moving so that she ends up in her lap and straddles her, smiling again at the sharp breath Helena pulls in at once, “because I want you to be happy. And I’ll do what I can to make you happy in the future.”

“Likewise”, Helena still has time to say, then Dinah is kissing her, and the kiss deepens quickly, and the Shadowhunter finds herself smiling into it as she wraps both arms around her.

She’s happier than she has been in a long time, and she’s quite certain they will be happy in the future, no matter what life might throw at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done :D I had fun writing this and I hope you had fun reading this - and I also hope to see you at the next one ;)


End file.
